Saturday 21 June 2008

Freight issues

My eye was caught by the shipping arrangements in northern Holland, where the islands of Vlieland and Terschelling are served by shipping company Doeksen out of the Frisian port of Harlingen. The cargo service is carried out by a cargo-cat, a catamaran dedicated to freight. With the debate hotting up over the eventual replacement of much maligned (not deserved) MV Muirneag, trudging back and forth between Ullapool and Stornoway, this unique vessel might be an option. I quote a few data:

Dimensions: 48 x 15 x 2 meters (160 x 50 x 7 feet)
Power: 4 x 280 kW
Speed: 12 nautical miles per hour

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Cargo Cat"]Cargo Cat[/caption]

Photo courtesy Menno Kooistra

1 comment:

  1. "Amish that is a lake skirt the coast vessel, we do produce in Tasmania heavy sea going cats. what you have shown would be pounded to peices in your home waters"

    roy from Sofala.Oz

    "Roy, Tend to agree, although the route to Vlieland briefly takes the cat into the open North Sea, which is not much better than the Minch. If you leave a comment with further info about your heavy catamarans, or email islandblogging@bbc.co.uk with info (preferably links) FAO Arnish Lighthouse, I'll look at it and publish it with your consent. "

    Arnish Lighthouse from Off Island

    "Roy and Arnish: are we talking about big subsidies as well? Or do you have in mind a sink or swim commercial proposition?"

    mjc from NM,USA

    "MJC, I´m a mine of useless information just fueling a long-standing debate in Lewis. "

    Arnish Lighthouse from Off island

    "Yeah that vessel would not work in the minch during the winter. They are not designed for rough weather and can only handle up to a 2m swell."

    Kevin Morrison from Carlabhagh, Eilean Leodhas

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