 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) |
The catamaran Twin City Liner has been a link on the Danube river between the two capitals, Vienna, Austria and Bratislava, Slovakia since 1 June 2006. The path between the two European capitals takes approximately 75 minutes. [1]
The first catamaran was built in Norway between the autumn of 2005 and the spring of 2006. The routing was across Skagerrak, on the Northern Sea after the channel Rhine-Main-Danube to Vienna. For this and due to the weight, the shipyard of Norwegian Båtservice Mandal developed a high speed catamaran in aluminium with a hydrojet which can also be used in summer at low tide. The sinking depth in water guaranteed by the contract is 80 cm. To minimize the impact of the waves, complex model tests of the Austrian Institute for Maritime Technology (Schiffbautechnische Versuchsanstalta) took place. The catamaran is totally climate-controlled, and can accommodate 106 passengers and crew (a captain, two sailors and catering staff). On May 14, 2007, the Twin City Liner failed in Vienna, in the district of Erdberg, on the right bank of the Danube Canal and had to be rescued by firemen from Vienna. After repair and administrative authorization, it was returned to service. A similar accident occurred July 28, 2009, when the captain tried to avoid a floating tree trunk near the gateway Erdberg.
During a press conference on August 20, 2007, the Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs and Finance Vienna Renate Brauner discussed the acquisition of the second Twin City Liner. This second "Twinni," as nicknamed by the media, was also built by Båtservice Mandal and made the same journey.
On May 13, 2008, the Twin City Liner docked in the central port of Vienna below Reichsbrücke. The maiden voyage of the new catamaran, with the registration number A-40631, was conducted immediately after its christening by President Heinz Fischer and his wife Margit Fischer, and the priest of the Cathedral of Vienna Anton Faber, as part of a state visit to Bratislava. During a stopover in Devín, Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic and his wife boarded the ship and then continued the journey.
Besides minor changes to the technical equipment and form, the new Twin City Liner can accommodate up to 126 passengers: 106 seats forward in the passenger cabin, eight seats in the "VIP" cabin on the upper deck and twelve outdoor seats for travel during the summer. The commercial operation of the second Twin City Liner began 31 August 2008.
There have been studies conducted for the purchase of a third vessel to develop a fast connection based on the Twin City Liner to Budapest or Belgrade. From Bratislava, travelers might go to Piestany or contemporary art museum Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum to Čunovo.
In January 2019, it was announced that a new, larger Twin City Liner would begin operating on March 29, 2019. This Twin City Liner was built in England by Wightshipyard. It took 62,000 working hours, 25 tons of aluminium, and 60 square meters of window glass to complete the 7 million euro vessel. It is powered by four Di16 V8 Scania 4400BHP Ehardt engines, and four Kamewa Rolls-Royce jets.
Twin City Liner 3
Length : 39.9 meters
Width : 11 meters
Height : 5.9 meters
Draft : 0.8 meters
Dead weight : 70 tons
Seats : 250
Captain's Lounge: 35
Top speed : 81 km / h
Cruise speed : 60 km / h
Power : 4400 hp [1]
Unlike most other ships sailing on the Danube, the Twin City Liner does not leave the port of Reichsbrücke but the station in the city center, on the Danube canal between Schwedenplatz and Marienbrücke (Vienna) to bypass the dam of the power plant Freudenau. In July 2010, a new wharf was opened.
The arrival point in Bratislava is only a few minutes walk from the old town.
The ships sail from May to September four to five times a day in each direction, and in April and October, three to four times. Besides the planned operating hours (evenings and from mid - December to April), ships can be chartered.
Users are mainly tourists and inhabitants of Vienna and Bratislava, mostly businessmen. As seats are limited booking favors roundtrips between morning and evening. In addition, the ticket price depends on the day of the week.
The ship owner is the Central Danube Region GmbH, [2] which initiated and developed the project. The partners are as operators DDSG Blue Danube, belonging to the Wien Holding which includes the businesses run by the city of Vienna.
A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains speed, the hydrofoils lift the boat's hull out of the water, decreasing drag and allowing greater speeds.
Shun Tak-China Travel Ship Management Limited, doing business as TurboJET, is a ferry company based in Hong Kong. The company was established from the joint venture between Shun Tak Holdings and China Travel International Investment Hong Kong in July 1999. It operates hydrofoil ferry services between Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, in the Pearl River Delta area.
Incat Tasmania is a 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.
The Meyer Werft GmbH & Co. KG is one of the major German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. Founded in 1795 and starting with small wooden vessels, today Meyer Werft is a builder of luxury passenger ships. 700 ships of different types have been built at the yard. Its "Dockhalle 2" is the third largest shipbuilding hall and the building with the fifth-largest usable space in the world.
The Erste Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft or DDSG was a shipping company founded in 1829 by the Austrian government for transporting passengers and cargo on the Danube.
Vienna has an extensive transport system that includes motorways, railways and public transport.
HSC INCAT 046 is a wave-piercing catamaran passenger-vehicle ferry. It has operated under various marketing names, including Devil Cat, The Cat, The Lynx, and now The T&T Express.
The Reichsbrücke is a major bridge in Vienna, linking Mexikoplatz in Leopoldstadt with the Donauinsel in Donaustadt across the Danube. The bridge is used by 50,000 vehicles per day and carries six lanes of traffic, U-Bahn tracks, two footpaths, two cyclepaths and two utility tunnels.
Austal USA is an American shipbuilder based on Blakeley Island in Mobile, Alabama. It is a subsidiary of Austal.
Westermoen Hydrofoil was a shipyard located in Mandal, Norway, which has specialized in high speed craft, and pioneered many designs.
The Port of Bratislava is a major port on the river Danube and — in a wider sense — on the Rhine-Main-Danube waterway, located in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is a universal inland port consisting of two parts, a cargo port and a passenger port. The former is a key facility for Slovakia's economy as the largest of three international ports in Slovakia, the others being in Komárno and Štúrovo. The port lies at the strategic intersection of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal with the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor, part of the Trans-European Transport Networks, and it is located near two major ports: Port of Vienna and Port of Budapest.
A ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIG), ground-effect craft, wingship, flarecraft or ekranoplan, is a vehicle that is able to move over the surface by gaining support from the reactions of the air against the surface of the earth or water. Typically, it is designed to "hover" over a level surface by making use of ground effect, the aerodynamic interaction between the moving wing and the surface below. Some models can operate over any flat area such as frozen lakes or flat plains similar to a hovercraft.
Abels Shipbuilders Ltd was a ship and boat builder in Bristol, England. In addition to boat building, the company branched out into architectural sculptures, tidal energy and marine restoration, but closed in 2016.
RMS Empress of Scotland, originally SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, was an ocean liner built in 1905–1906 by Vulcan AG shipyard in Stettin for the Hamburg America Line. The ship regularly sailed between Hamburg and New York City until the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914. At the end of hostilities, re-flagged as USS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, she transported American troops from Europe to the United States. For a brief time Cunard sailed the re-flagged ship between Liverpool and New York.
Austal 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 passenger and vehicle ferries and specialist utility vessels such as offshore windfarm for turtles and crew transfer vessels.
The Danube Steamboat Shipping Company, Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft was a shipping company founded in 1829 by the Austrian government for transporting passengers and cargo on the River Danube.
Macao Dragon Company Limited was a start-up ferry company that offered services between the Hong Kong–Macau Ferry Terminal, in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, and the Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal in Taipa, Macau. It operated four 65m and 63m highspeed catamarans vessels powered by MTU Friedrichshafen engines using waterjet propulsion, which could accommodate up to 1,200 passengers.
BornholmerFærgen was a Danish ferry company which connected the island of Bornholm to Denmark, Sweden and Germany. Until 2011 known as Bornholmstrafikken, it is now a subsidiary of Danske Færger.
The Wight Shipyard is a shipbuilding company and shipyard based in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the UK, with their facilities occupying and including the historic Saunders-Roe flying boat hangar. The company was originally known as Shemara Refit LLP, and was formed to undertake the refit of the historic MY Shemara. They now specialise in the construction and refit of high speed craft and aluminium ships.
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.
Media related to Twin City Liner at Wikimedia Commons