HSC ''High Speed Jet'' is a ocean-going

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

built in 1990 by

Incat Incat Tasmania is an Australian manufacturer of high-speed craft (HSC) catamaran ferries. Its greatest success has been with large, sea going passenger and vehicle ferries, but it has also built military transports and since 2015 it has built s ...

for

Hoverspeed Hoverspeed was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd. Its last owners were Sea Containers; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed Se ...

and currently owned by

Seajets Seajets is a Greek/ Cypriot ferry company founded in 1989 by Marios Iliopoulos and his father Panagiotis. Seajets operates a fleet of passenger, freight ferry and cruiseferry services in the Aegean Sea. Seajets is one of Greece's leading ferry co ...

. In 1990, as ''Hoverspeed Great Britain'', she took the

Hales Trophy The Hales Trophy, officially the North Atlantic Blue Riband Challenge Trophy is an award for the fastest Atlantic crossing by a commercial passenger vessel. The award was created in 1935 when Harold K. Hales, a British politician and owner of Ha ...

for the fastest eastbound

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

journey, making the run, without passengers, in three days, seven hours and fifty-four minutes, averaging .

History

The ship's previous names were: ''Hoverspeed Great Britain'' (1990–2004), ''Emeraude GB'' (2004–2005), and ''Speedrunner 1'' (2005–2008, when she sailed the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

for

Sea Containers Sea Containers was a Bermudan registered company which operated two primary business areas: transport and Shipping container, container leasing. It was founded in 1965 by James Sherwood and was initially focused on the leasing of cargo containe ...

and

Aegean Speed Lines Aegean Sea Lines (former Aegean Speed Lines) is a Greek ferry company that is operating ferry services between Piraeus and the Cyclades. Prior to 2022 it was operating high-speed ferries. History Aegean Speed Lines were formed in 2005 as a jo ...

.) ''Sea Runner'' (2008–2011) and ''Cosmos Jet'' (2011–2015, when she first began operating for

). She entered service on the

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

route on 12 July 1990 operating three round trips per day. HSC ''Hoverspeed Great Britain'' was replaced on the cross-channel route by MDV 1200 class ferries ''Superseacat One'' and ''Superseacat Two''.

Specifications

Power is supplied by four Ruston 16RK270 V-16

marine diesel engines Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * ...

each with a 3600 kW (4825 hp) at 100%

maximum continuous rating In electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, the power rating of equipment is the highest power input allowed to flow through particular equipment. According to the particular discipline, the term ''power'' may refer to electrical or ...

(MCR). The 16RK270 engine has 16 cylinders, a 270 mm bore and a 305mm stroke, for a per cylinder displacement of 17.46L and a total displacement of 279.408L. The vessel in trials attained over on a 5-minute run; at full displacement she showed maximum and for a two-way average.

References

External links

HSC ''Sea Runner'' image gallery
at

Shipbuilder info
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:High Speed Jet Ships of Seajets 1990 ships Blue Riband holders Incat high-speed craft Ferries of Greece Individual catamarans Ships built by Incat