Austal's largest catamaran built to date, the 113-metre 'Leonora Christina' for Denmark's Bornholmer Færgen, has recently completed sea trials, marking the final stage in the construction of the high-speed vehicle-passenger ferry at Austal's Henderson, Australia shipyard.
Austal was awarded the contract to build 'Leonora Christina' in April 2009, and the vessel has been built to comply with stringent Danish regulations, covering environmental noise, wave-wash and exhaust emissions, as well as ergonomic working arrangements for the crew and strict fire and safety standards.
The vessel design was customised to fit Bornholmer Færgen's existing high-speed ferry berths, which it will share with the smaller 'Villum Clausen'. This resulted in significant savings for the operator, as only minimal modifications were needed to be made to the ports of Ronne and Ystad.
The vessel's three vehicle decks offer a total capacity of 300 truck lane metres, or a maximum of 357 cars, which are accessible via both bow and stern ramps, ensuring efficient 'drive through' loading and unloading of the vessel, thereby keeping turnaround times to a minimum. The fitting of hoistable vehicle decks provides Bornholmer Færgen with the flexibility to carry a mix of cars and freight.
With the ability to operate at speeds of up to 40 knots, the 1,400-passenger 'Leonora Christina' is powered by four MAN 20V28/33D engines, each capable of producing a maximum continuous output of 9,100kW and driving Rolls Royce KaMeWa 125 SIII waterjets.