Tuesday, 7 July 2009 / Posted in Our Designs for Inspiration /
Combining a turn of speed with efficiency, comfort and an impressive carrying capacity, this proven design has been approved by Bureau Veritas, the MCA and the Irish MSO and can operate in Europe as a Class B Passenger ship. With spacious side decks, an upper viewing deck and a spacious saloon she is a useful ferry for coastal waters and changeable weather.
The “Rathlin Express” has a top speed of around 17knots while her sisters ship “Lady Iona” with larger engines can operate up to 20 knots fully laden with 90 passengers.
The hull shape is a canoe body with a small planning area aft rather than the more conventional fully planning hulls used at this speed. The advantage is that she sits in the water and does not require the same fuel to stay on the plane while achieving planning speeds.
Built in all aluminium by Arklow Marine to the highest survey standards we faced several technical and regulatory challenges while working to maintain an attractive and pleasant vessel for the passengers and Rathlin Island.
This is about the smallest vessel practical to build under the EU passenger ship directive for seagoing use within the EU and while presenting many challenges, particularly as the first Aluminium Class B built for the UK, it has allowed MDI to progress and develop practical design solutions to meet the stringent regulations associated with all passenger ships without undue build or operational costs.
