New Red Funnel ferry is the first high-speed ferry to be built in Britain in more than 16 years
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Red Funnel has launched Red Jet 6, its largest and most eco-friendly high-speed vessel to date.
Named by HRH The Princess Royal at a ceremony in Cowes on 4 July, Red Jet 6 was built by Shemara Refit at its Isle of Wight shipyard, making her the first high-speed ferry to be built in Britain in more than 16 years.
“It is only fitting that the naming ceremony took place where she was built in Cowes on the Isle of Wight,” said Kevin George, Red Funnel’s CEO.
Built with twin hulls, Red Jet 6 is equipped by twin generator sets and four MTU 2000 series engines, which each power a MJP 500 waterjet unit. This configuration helps reduce fuel consumption by 11% compared to Red Jet 4 and 30% compared to Red Jet 5.
A first for Red Funnel, the vessel has a vinyl coating that is expected to reduce weight, improve fuel efficiency and reduce maintenance costs. Red Jet 6 also debuts the line’s new livery, which has been inspired by the wake of a waterjet-propelled vessel travelling at high speed through the waves. This livery will be added to the rest of the Red Jet fleet during their annual drydocks.
At 41m long, the £6 million Red Jet 6 is designed to carry 275 passengers and 22 bicycles. The vessel features leather seats, an advanced air-handling system, a new high bandwidth ship-to-shore wifi system, which will be free for customers; and a travel information system that provides real-time updates about connecting bus, coach, train and aeroplane services.
“Red Jet 6 represents a £6 million investment by Red Funnel in marine manufacturing on the island and the team at Shemara Refit can be extremely proud of not only building a ship of such high quality but also for delivering it on time and on budget,” said Peter Morton, CEO of Shemara Refit. “Red Jet 6 represents a number of important firsts and is testament to the world-class skills and dedication of the entire team at Shemara Refit. Red Jet 6 is proof that we can build and refit technically advanced fast ferries competitively on the Isle of Wight and I’m confident that she will lead to more orders from operators around the world.”