Boasting a speed more commonly associated with high-end patrol and rescue RIBs, the recently delivered, 99m loa dual-fuel wave-piercing catamaran Francisco has certainly raised the bar when it comes to talk of ‘fast ferries’ – if not having completely subverted notions concerning speed and size.
Inspired partly by warship performance, partly by the lucrative benefits of LNG as a
cost-efficient, SOx-free fuel, the end result is one of the fastest vessels in the world, and certainly the fastest within its sector. The vessel was commissioned – from builder Incat Tasmania and fellow Tasmanian architect Revoluton Design – by Latin American ferry operator Buquebus and will operate on the River Plate, ferrying up to 1,000 passengers and 150 cars between Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, in neighbouring Uruguay.