''Benchijigua Express'' is a fast ferry, operated by

Fred. Olsen Express Fred. Olsen Express is an inter-island ferry service based in the Canary Islands, Spain. It operates a fleet of six modern fast ferries on five routes. Its fleet includes a trimaran fast ferry, the Benchijigua Express, which was the first such ve ...

between the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

, La Gomera and La Palma in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. She was delivered in April 2005. At long, the ferry is the second-longest

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreati ...

in the world, less than a metre shy of the ''Independence'' class littoral combat ship, which was based on ''Benchijigua Express''s design. Her body is made of

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

with a special offshore coating, and is the second-largest vessel with an aluminium hull. The ship's name, derived from the village of

Benchijigua Benchijigua is a small village on the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands. It lies at the head of a ravine (the Barranco de Benchijigua) at an altitude of 600m below the Roque de Agando, some 12 km north of Playa Santiago. Benchijigua is o ...

on La Gomera where

Fredrik Olsen Thomas Fredrik Olsen or Fred Olsen (born 1 January 1929) is a Norwegian shipping magnate and Chairman of the companies in the Fred. Olsen & Co. company. He is the fourth generation running the Fred. Olsen Group, founded by his great grandfather ...

had property, was previously used twice since 1999.

Design and construction

The ''Benchijigua Express'' was built by Austal in

Henderson, Western Australia Henderson is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. History The suburb of Henderson comprises land resumed by the Commonwealth Government in 1915 for defence purposes. A large naval base was planned by Admira ...

.Austal Ferry Contract Heralds a New Era in Fast Sea Transportation
Austal 20 June 2003 The vessel is long, wide, and has a draught of . She can reach speeds of , although her normal service speed is . The vessel is powered by four

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s of MTU Series 8000 (20V 8000 M71L), each with 9,100 kW at 1,150

rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

driven electric generators, housed in two engine rooms. Each of the two diesels in the rear engine-room drive one Kamewa 125 SII steerable waterjet propulsion from Rolls-Royce. The overall performance of both machines at the front engine room is transferred to a Kamewa 180 BII booster waterjet. The electrical energy is generated by four MTU 12V 2000 M40 generator units. Up to 1,291 passengers are distributed on two decks. Due to the short crossing time, there are no passenger cabins. For vehicle transport there are 123 car spaces and of truck lane; the latter can be converted into an additional 218 car spaces. The vehicle deck can be loaded and unloaded in 30 minutes.

Predecessor

The ship's name is now used for the third time since 1999. The first ''Benchijigua Express'' (IMO number: 9206712) was entered into service in 1999 and renamed ''Bentayga Express'' later in 1999. The second ''Benchijigua Express'' (IMO No: 9213337) started its service between

Los Cristianos Los Cristianos is a town in Spain with a population of 21,235 (2017), situated on the south coast of the Canary Island of Tenerife. Located in the municipality of Arona, Tenerife, Arona between the cone of the mountain Chayofita and the greater mou ...

and

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

in January 2000. In November 2004 she was renamed ''Bentago Express'' to free the name for this vessel.

Related designs

Austal and

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

based the hull design of the ''Independence'' class littoral combat ship on the ''Benchijigua Express'' design.

References

External links

Fred. Olsen Express

Info at Austal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benchijigua Express, HSC Ferries of Spain 2004 ships La Gomera Trimarans Transport in the Canary Islands Ships built by Austal