Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Red Sea fast ferry service begins operations
Cairo: The Government of Egypt’s two Austal-built high speed vehicle ferries have officially commenced operations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, introducing a new standard of ferry service across the Red Sea. Austal has been awarded a three-year technical management and maintenance contract for the two catamaran ferries.
Each 88-metre vessel now performs six return trips per week, operating on 100 nautical mile route between Dibba in Saudi Arabia and Safaga in Egypt.
The service has already proven popular with Pilgrims travelling on to Mecca, Egyptian workers travelling to and from Saudi Arabia as well as business and leisure travellers. So far more than 69700 people have utilised the service, which has also facilitated the transport of 3514 vehicles and 730 trucks.
To perform planned and preventative maintenance support, Austal has established a dedicated, fully staffed service office in the Egyptian port city of Safaga, where it will utilise the region’s existing maintenance docking facilities where required. [01/09/09]
