{{Use British English, date=May 2017 Hovercraft leaving Ryde

hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...

, designed by Hoverwork and fitted out in St Helens. The type was found to be too large for the cross-Solent route and was withdrawn after 4 years in service (2007-2011), although other BHT variants are found currently in service around the world in various commercial and civil roles and designated as BHT 130 / 150 / 180. As a civil passenger hovercraft it seats up to 130 passengers, hence the numerics in its name, the first welded aluminium hull (fabricated by Aluminium Ship Builders, Fishbourne, Isle of Wight) arrived at Hoverwork's St Helens works in August 2005. “BHT” stands for British Hovercraft Technologies. The first of its kind, named the ''Solent Express'' entered cross-

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...

service on 14 June 2007; also, in the July of the same year, it was put on trial at a new passenger service between

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

and Portobello across the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

in Scotland. It remained in service on the Solent until 2011 when it was sold to Griffon Hoverwork Ltd and laid up pending sale.

Technical specifications

*29.3 m long *15 m beam *70 tonne all up weight *Service speed over water 45 knots *130 passengers *4 crew *Lift engines - 2 x MTU 12V2000-R1237K37 diesels - each producing 675kW *Propulsion engines - 2 x MTU 16V2000-R1637K37 diesels producing 899kW *2 x 3.5-metre-diameter, five-bladed, variable-pitch propellers for propulsion Hovercraft Ships built on the Isle of Wight