By
Rebecca Gibson |
Spain-based naval architecture firm Oliver Design has completed a turnkey project to fit out the interior of Texelstroom, a new passenger ferry for Dutch operator Teso.
Texelstroom, which features a symmetrical double-ended design and uses compressed natural gas and solar panels to improve energy efficiency, is the first vessel of its kind to be built at Spanish shipyard La Naval. This week it will leave the shipyard to undergo final outfitting in Den Helder, Netherlands before entering service.
Oliver Design was commissioned to fit out the vessel according to an interior design created by Dutch yacht design firm Vripack. Over an 18-month period, 100 staff at Oliver Design created more than 1,000 construction and working drawings for the 4,000sqm main hall on the passenger deck, the weather decks, the two bridges and offices and the buffet, crèche, services, dining and crew areas.
Around 100 operators were involved in the assembly work, including in-house staff and subcontracted specialists. All materials – including fibreglass, synthetic resin, tempered glass, stainless steel and aluminium – have been certified by the International Maritime Organization and meet classification society and Dutch maritime requirements on incombustibility, low flame propagation, fume and toxic gas emissions, soundproofing and more. The ergonomic furniture has been custom built.
Highlights include the crèche area, which has decorative panels with backlit pictures of birds, a seamless resin floor with curved windows to simulate a sandy beach, and shells gathered from the beaches of Texel in the Friesian islands. Another highlight is the large Mediterranean pine in one of the galleries, which was specially craft-built from treated natural bark and branches, and freeze-dried leaves.
Texelstroom will transport 1,750 passengers and vehicles on the hour-long route between Den Helder and Texel, the largest port in the Friesian islands, several times a day.