hidden europe 68

Fast cats

by hidden europe

Picture above: FRS’ Skane Jet en route between Germany and Sweden (photo © FRS Baltic GmbH licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0).

Summary

The current record for the fastest Atlantic crossing was set in 1998 by an Incat catamaran capable of carrying 600 passengers and 200 cars. That same vessel is still in day-to-day service as a ferry. We'll go in search of the Skane Jet.

Any mention of the Blue Riband, the informal accolade accorded to the passenger ship with the fastest Atlantic crossing time, invariably evokes images of the illustrious ocean liners of yesteryear. Among the vessels which have claimed the prize are the Cunard liners Mauretania and Queen Mary. The Blue Riband isn’t an official award, and there’s no real consensus over what counts or does not count as an eligible crossing. With express crossings of the Atlantic by ocean liners very much a thing of the past, the Blue Riband no longer commands the attention it once did. But the quest for speed continues and now the competition for the fastest Atlantic crossings by vessels designed for regular commercial passenger use has shifted to ocean-going catamarans.

Related article

Marking Time: New Train Services for 2020

The hidden europe award for ingenuity in creating new European rail travel opportunities is awarded to Austria's state rail operator, Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB). We look at what ÖBB will offer anew for 2020, and examine too what's new on the rails in Russia, Germany and elsewhere across Europe.

Related article

An Essex backwater: Discovering Harwich

The old town of Harwich, a port in the county of Essex on England's North Sea coast, is tucked away on the end of a peninsula. Maritime connections have shaped the development of Harwich. It's a place for sea breezes, rock oysters and watching the ferries come and go.

Related article

Sea fever

When one time English poet laureate John Masefield extolled the lure of the ocean ("I must down to the seas again..."), he clearly didn't have Cunard's luxury Queen Elizabeth II ship or the same company's new super liner Queen Mary in mind.