Printer Friendly
Email a Friend
Big Cats Chase Passengers Onto Thames
01 Jun 2002
Under Mayor Ken Livingstone's Transport Policy for central London, the River Thames has been 'rediscovered' as the passenger transport artery it was in the past, helping to reduce congestion on the capital's roads and providing commuters with an alternative to overcrowded tube trains and buses.
Thames Clippers is the only high speed ferry company on the Thames, running a fleet of three fast ferries that help to transport 1,500 commuters a day from the Docklands to central London. In March of this year the company added to its fleet with the Hurricane Clipper, a 220 seat catamaran which provides a fast commuter service from Canary Wharf in Docklands to Savoy Pier in the West End as well as corporate river transport for HSBC and Hilton Hotels.
The sleek, futuristic 30m vessel can travel at 28.5 knots powered by two Caterpillar 3412E V12 engines driving Teignbridge Aquaquin 92 propellers. The powerful engines have made Hurricane Clipper the fastest ferry on the river, cutting the Docklands to West End journey time to 23 minutes.
The vessel was built by NQEA of Cairns in Australia, leaders in the design of low wash impact ferries, who have built similar vessels for river work in Amsterdam, Ireland and Bora Bora. NQEA recommended the CAT engines for their reliability and has placed them in 9 of the 11 river runners they have built.
The Hurricane Clipper's CAT 3412E engines were supplied by UK Caterpillar distributor Finning, which also provides Thames Clippers with regular servicing and technical support to minimise unscheduled downtime. Finning service engineers take oil samples which are sent to a lab for analysis, allowing Thames Clippers to identify any wearing elements in the engine and foresee any potential problems. Finning service engineers are also on call round the clock and can deliver ancillary parts quickly if required.
MJ Information No: 17130
Images for this article - click to enlarge
Unless otherwise stated, all images copyright © Mercator Media 2008. This does not exclude the owner's assertion of copyright over the material.
