Amphibious ferry for West Wales
After an absence of almost 60 years, the reinstatement of the ferry service between Llansteffan and Ferryside on the Tywi estuary in West Wales has taken a step forward this week with the award of the boat building contract.
Designed in Holland, using patented Sealegs technology developed and manufactured in New Zealand, the 10-seater amphibious ferry will be built by Robust Boats of Solva, Pembrokeshire. Funded by the Coastal Communities Fund, it will be a first for Wales.
Carmarthen Bay Ferries Director Les Jones, who has led the tendering process said “This is no ordinary boat. The high tidal range and nature of the foreshore would require an impractically long jetty or passengers wading through shallow water to get on and off a conventional ferry. There isn’t a boat on the market that meets all our requirements so we wrote a specification for a high performance boat, fitted with retractable wheels and went out to open tender for the design and build.”
“Designing a boat which will carry the maximum number of passengers using Sealegs technology has been an interesting as well as challenging project” , said Edgar van Smaalen, M.D., Bruce Roberts Europe.
We have been working with Carmarthen Bay Ferries and boat designers for over a year now and are pleased to see our technology being adapted to the challenging environment of the Tywi estuary. – added a Sealegs representative.
The ferry will begin operating in the summer of 2018 and in addition to ferrying passengers between Llansteffan and Ferryside will offer boat trips around Carmarthen Bay. The boat will be licenced to operate within 20 miles of any safe haven, will be equipped with the latest safety and navigation equipment, be manned by a fully qualified crew and have the capacity to carry up to 10 people. The ferry will mean that the villages will be minutes apart rather than the current 18 mile road journey. Llansteffan passengers will also have access to the train.
By Jake Frith
