A catamaran is a watercraft with two parallel hulls of equal size. The distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts resistance to rolling and overturning. Catamarans typically have less hull volume, smaller displacement, and shallower draft (draught) than monohulls of comparable length. The two hulls combined also often have a smaller hydrodynamic resistance than comparable monohulls, requiring less propulsive power from either sails or motors. The catamaran's wider stance on the water can reduce both heeling and wave-induced motion, as compared with a monohull, and can give reduced wakes.
A trimaran is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreation or racing; others are ferries or warships. They originated from the traditional double-outrigger hulls of the Austronesian cultures of Maritime Southeast Asia; particularly in the Philippines and Eastern Indonesia, where it remains the dominant hull design of traditional fishing boats. Double-outriggers are derived from the older catamaran and single-outrigger boat designs.
Incat Tasmania is an Australian manufacturer of high-speed craft (HSC) catamaran ferries. Its greatest success has been with large, sea going passenger and vehicle ferries, but it has also built military transports and since 2015 it has built smaller river and bay ferries. Based in Derwent Park, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, it was founded by Bob Clifford.
HMAS Jervis Bay was a wave piercing catamaran that operated in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
TT-Line Company Pty Ltd, trading as Spirit of Tasmania, is a Tasmanian Government-owned business that has been offering ferry services between mainland Australia and Tasmania since July 1993. Navigating the Bass Strait, Spirit of Tasmania ferry services cover a distance of 242 nautical miles between Geelong, Victoria and Devonport, Tasmania. Each journey across the "Sea Highway" takes approximately 9–11 hours in both directions.
A wave-piercing boat hull has a very fine bow, with reduced buoyancy in the forward portions. When a wave is encountered, the lack of buoyancy means the hull pierces through the water rather than riding over the top, resulting in a smoother ride than traditional designs, and in diminished mechanical stress on the vessel. It also reduces a boat's wave-making resistance.
A high-speed craft (HSC) is a high-speed water vessel for civilian use, also called a fastcraft or fast ferry. The first high-speed craft were often hydrofoils or hovercraft, but in the 1990s catamaran and monohull designs become more popular. Most high-speed craft serve as passenger ferries, but the largest catamarans and monohulls also carry cars, buses, large trucks and freight.
Fred. Olsen Express is an inter-island ferry service based in the Canary Islands, Spain. It operates a fleet of six modern fast ferries on five routes. Its fleet includes a trimaran fast ferry, the Benchijigua Express, which was the first such vehicle in the world when it entered service in 2005. The company is owned by the Olsen family-controlled Bonheur and Ganger Rolf, which among other things also owns the shipping companies Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and First Olsen Tankers.
Robert "Bob" Frederick Clifford AO is an Australian shipbuilder and businessman, best known for his success in building his Incat catamaran building company into an international brand that sells wave piercing catamaran ferries all over the world including to the US military and many European ferry operators.
Austal Limited is an Australian-based global ship building company and defence prime contractor that specialises in the design, construction and support of defence and commercial vessels. Austal's product range includes naval vessels, high-speed ferries, and supply or crew transfer vessels for offshore windfarms and oil and gas platforms.
Lock Crowther was an Australian multihull sailboat designer. He grew up in Bairnsdale in the East Gippsland region of Victoria. Though his first name was Lachlan by birth, he insisted on being called Lock or Lockie.
Captain Cook Cruises is an Australian cruise operator. As of January 2018, the company operated 21 vessels on Sydney Harbour, providing a range of Government contracted and non-contracted Ferry services, Sightseeing, Dining and Charter Cruises.
The Sydney JetCats were a class of catamarans operated by the State Transit Authority and Sydney Ferries Corporation on the Manly service.
Richardson Devine Marine is an Australian company, situated in Tasmania on Hobart's Derwent River.
Philip Christian Hercus AO BSc was a naval architect and marine vessel designer in Sydney Australia.
Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Somerset, Massachusetts on the Taunton River. It primarily builds pilot boats and high-speed catamaran ferries.
The BSC Marine Group is a shipbuilding company based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1994, it specialises in the design and construction of aluminium and composite vessels. Headquartered in Toowong in Queensland, Australia, its shipyard is at Hemmant.
MV or HSCSaint John Paul II is a high-speed catamaran ferry owned and operated by Virtu Ferries. Built by Incat in 2017–18, the vessel entered service as a ferry between Malta and Sicily in March 2019. It is the largest vessel of its kind in the Mediterranean Sea, and the second largest in the world.
