Page 22: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 2004)

Australia

USA, the company's Mobile, AL ship- yard, is currently building a 58 m vehi- cle-passenger catamaran for Lake

Express LLC. This is scheduled to begin operations across Lake Michigan by this summer.

With capacity for 253 passengers and 46 cars, the Auto Express 58 is designed for a speed of 34 knots, and is the largest vessel built at Austal USA to date. The yard has previously completed two pas- senger-only high speed catamarans, two dinner cruise vessels and a pair of fast crew/supply boats.

Interestingly, there is already an Austal vehicle-passenger catamaran flagged to the United States registry — the Theatre

Support Vessel WestPac Express.

Having already completed over two years of service supporting the opera- tions of the U.S. Marine Corps' Third

Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) in the Western Pacific theatre, during 2003 the 101 m catamaran achieved the

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Capable of sustaining loaded speeds of 36 knots, the diesel-powered ship can deploy a complete battalion of 970

Marines and up to 550 tons of vehicles and equipment in a single lift. WestPac

Express has covered 150,000 nautical miles in two years, many of them open sea passages in challenging sea condi- tions, and yet lost only four hours oper- ation to technical delays.

Austal Ships is also currently involved in other defence related projects, includ- ing the construction of three 22 m Coast

Guard vessels for Kuwait and a fleet of ten 37.5 m naval patrol boats for anoth- er Middle East nation.

Image Marine to Build

New True North

Image Marine will build a live- aboard adventure vessel for North

Star Cruises. North Star Cruises took delivery of its first live-aboard, the

Image Marine-built True North, in

January 1999. With capacity for 28 passengers in 14 cabins, the 34.5 m vessel has proved successful cruis- ing the remote Kimberley region of

North Western Australia.

North Star Cruises Director, Mr

Craig Howson said "The perform- ance of 'True North' has been out- standing and is a testament to the shipbuilding skills of the Image

Marine team; their reputation in the live-aboard market is excellent and our experience with the company through our previous build certainly gave us the confidence to build with them again." The new True North will be a 49.9-m, 36 berth - alumini- um monohull. On board, North Star

Cruises has upgraded the standard of cabins compared to the previous ves- sel, and offers three options; four premium staterooms on the upper deck, six staterooms on the main deck and eight large double cabins on the lower deck. The increased common area is split over two decks on the new vessel offering an alter- native to the adjacent lounge-dining area on the original 'True North'.

Dining takes place on the main deck and the lounge-bar is located on the upper deck and opens onto an out- door area, providing guests with a spectacular viewing platform on which to wind down after a day filled with fishing, diving and tour- ing. Scheduled for delivery in

February 2005. 22 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News