Bay Area To Welcome High-Speed Ferry For
Alameda This Month
Senior Editor Wes Starratt has just
returned from a visit to the shipyards in the Seattle Area with these stories
and pictures.
|
The MV Peralta,
soon to be plying the Bay between Alameda/Oakland and San
Francisco. |
Scheduled to sail through the Golden Gate
on October 17th is the Bay Area’s newest high-speed ferry, the MV
Peralta. After crew training and Coast Guard inspections, the vessel
is scheduled to be put into service during the first week of November,
carrying passengers from terminals on the estuary in Alameda and Oakland
to the San Francisco Ferry Terminal.
Alameda Mayor Ralph Appezzato commented
that, "Alameda is very excited and eagerly awaiting the arrival of
the new ferry. The growth of our ferry service is another example of the
success of ferry service in the Bay Area. Our community is very
supportive of efforts to develop regional ferry services."
Built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders,
Inc., of Freeland, Washington, the M/V Peralta is an aluminum
catamaran (twin-hull boat) of International Catamaran (Incat) design. It
is propeller driven with two Cummins diesel engines.
The M/V Peralta can carry up to 318
passengers at speeds up to 30 knots (multiply by 1.15 for 34 ˝ miles
per hour). On the top deck is the wheelhouse together with inside and
aft deck seating. The lower deck has seating for 126 passengers together
with service areas and lavatories.
And Another Ferry For Vallejo In
December
|
Vallejo’s
back-up boat on the mend. |
Under Construction next to the M/V
Peralta at the Nichols Brothers’ boatyard is the former M/V Jet
Cat Express, which is being completely rebuilt to meet current demands
for Vallejo’s ferry service.
Bay Crossings
described the Jet Cat Express in its coverage of Vallejo’s Baylink
ferry service in the July issue, pointing out that Vallejo’s purchase
of the ferry from Catalina Express in 1994 marked the city’s baptism
into ferry operations. Several years later, after the city commissioned
two new 35-knot catamarans, the M/V Intintoli and the M/V Mare
Island, built by Dakota Creek Industries of Anacortes, WA, the
slower M/V Jet Cat Express proved incapable of serving as a
back-up vessel without disrupting schedules. So, Vallejo decided to have
the old boat completely rebuilt.
Earlier this year, the Jet Cat Express was
piloted up the coast to Nichols Brothers’ boatyard near Seattle for
the job. Currently, propellers are being changed to water jets to
increase the speed to 33 knots (fully loaded). The capacity of the boat
is being increased to 300 passengers by extending the length of the
hulls and adding a new wheelhouse as a separate top deck, with two full
decks left for passengers. The result will be almost a new ferry, able
to compete for passengers on the Vallejo – San Francisco run. It will
also have a new name, the M/V Vallejo.
By December, Nichols Brothers expects to
complete the work so that Vallejo can expect to add another high-speed
ferry to its fleet by the year’s end.
New Boat-Builder Plunges Into
High-Speed Ferry Competition, Testing The Role Of Smaller Catamarans
A new entry into catamaran boat-building
is the well established Kvichak Marine Industries of Seattle, which
earlier this year delivered a 75-passenger, welded-aluminum ferry to
Long Beach Transit System. The vessel’s operation has been contracted
to Catalina Express to provide service to commuters and tourists. The
26-knot, propeller-driven vessel with twin Cummins diesel engines was
designed by still another Australian firm, Crowther Multihulls. It has
an enclosed passenger cabin, with additional passenger seating on the
after deck.
It seems likely that these smaller
high-speed catamarans will have a role to play in the development of the
Bay Area’s regional ferry system. Meantime, Kvichak may be looking
toward expanding its capabilities to build larger catamarans.