Westamaran
Encyclopedia
The Westamaran is a pioneer type of passenger transport high speed catamaran
s developed by Westermoen Hydrofoil
in 1973. The craft was highly successful, and introduced a new era of passenger transport along the Norwegian coast and elsewhere.
On the Bergen to Stavanger
route, there was already a high speed service by hydrofoil
, introduced early in the 1960s. The initial Westamaran models were somewhat slower than the hydrofoils, but passenger comfort, both in terms of spaciousness but especially foul weather handling, was better in the Westamanarans, so they were better liked by the public.
The Westamaran had asymmetrical hulls, where the insides was essentially flat, forming a tunnel between the hulls that were rectangular in shape. The profiles were in fact quite like a Storm class torpedo boat cut in two, and the construction of the Westamaran built heavily on the experience gained from the Storm class.
Specifications:
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
s developed by Westermoen Hydrofoil
Westermoen Hydrofoil
Westermoen Hydrofoil was a shipyard located in Mandal, Norway, who has specialized in high speed craft, and pioneered many designs.The yard was established in 1961 by Toralf Westermoen, who had also started Westermoen Båtbyggeri og Mek Verksted...
in 1973. The craft was highly successful, and introduced a new era of passenger transport along the Norwegian coast and elsewhere.
On the Bergen to Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
route, there was already a high speed service by hydrofoil
Hydrofoil
A hydrofoil is a foil which operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to airfoils.Hydrofoils can be artificial, such as the rudder or keel on a boat, the diving planes on a submarine, a surfboard fin, or occur naturally, as with fish fins, the flippers of aquatic mammals, the...
, introduced early in the 1960s. The initial Westamaran models were somewhat slower than the hydrofoils, but passenger comfort, both in terms of spaciousness but especially foul weather handling, was better in the Westamanarans, so they were better liked by the public.
The Westamaran had asymmetrical hulls, where the insides was essentially flat, forming a tunnel between the hulls that were rectangular in shape. The profiles were in fact quite like a Storm class torpedo boat cut in two, and the construction of the Westamaran built heavily on the experience gained from the Storm class.
Specifications:
- Capacity: 166 passengers
- Length overall: 26.67m
- Beam: 9.02m
- Draft: 1.20m
- Engines: 2 x Diesel MTU 12 V 396 TC 62
- Power: 2 x 880 kWKwkw or KW may refer to:* Kuwait, ISO 3166-1 country code** .kw, the country code top level domain for Kuwait* Kilowatt* Self-ionization of water Kw* Cornish language's ISO 639 code* Kitchener–Waterloo, Ontario, Canada...
. - Layout: Shaft drive through two ZF BW 800 HS 20 hydraulic gearboxes to LIPS fixed propellers.
- Aux. engine: Mercedes OM 314, Stamford MHC 2341 generator 32,5 kVA
External links
- Westamaran, image from http://www.hydrofoilen.no/
- Article from Classic Fast Ferries
