Austal delivers new fast ferries for Saudi Arabia-Egypt service

Australian fast ferry specialist Austal has delivered two high speed passenger vehicle ferries to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which have been offered as a gift to the Egyptian Government. Both vessels, Riyadh and Cairo, will operate on the service across the Red Sea, linking the Saudi port of Dibba with Safaga in Egypt, cutting the crossing time for the 100 nautical mile service to six hours.

Both 88m vessels can each carry 1,200 passenger, 120 cars and 15 trucks. Propulsion comes from four MTU 20V8000 M71R diesel engines, each developing 7,200kW at 1,150 rev/min (reduced output) and driving KaMeWa waterjets. Service speed is 37 knots.

Austal is also building two 69m passenger/vehicle ferries for Saudi Arabia, with delivery set for the middle of 2009. Sphere: Related Content