High speed along the coast of Oman

We hurtled down the coast of Oman on board a 65 metre high speed catamaran reaching speeds of 50 odd knots. We left Port Sultan Kaboos not as you might expect sailing aboard a SuperYacht but instead on Shinas, a high speed ferry.  It was chartered in to take visiting journalists on a short demonstration cruise

The ferry is one of a two in the world’s fastest diesel-powered passenger ferry fleet.  It normally links the capital Muscat with Khasab in Musandam Peninsula from Wednesday.

“The high-speed ferries were introduced on this route basically to promote remote areas, providing services and easing movement of equipment without going through borders,” Mehdi Al Abduwani, Chairman of the National Ferry Company (NFC), told members of the BGTW.

He also revealed that NFC would eventually run five such ferries.
“There would be two ferries in the north (linking Khasab with Muscat), two in the South (linking Halniyat Island with Salalah) and the third ferry would link Masirah Island with Shannah in the east.

Shinas has clocked a top cruise speed of 51 knots (100km/h) while her sister ship Hormuz has clocked world-record 56 knots.

Facilities on board these ferries are all located on a single deck. A helicopter landing pad on the bridge deck can accommodate a medium-class helicopter. The vessels are built at an estimated cost of $70 million by Australia-based Austal, who are the world’s largest builder of fast ferries

The unrivalled performance of the two 65 metre vehicle-passenger catamaran ferries showcases the world-class ability of the Austal design team. They have successfully developed a new, customised, high efficiency hull design capable of delivering record-breaking performance, while Austal’s construction team managed to meet demanding weight targets.