Emeraude FerriesFerriesHoverspeedInternational Catamarans (Incat)Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (IoMSPCo)Past and PresentSea Containers Ltd (SeaCo)SeajetsSocietà Navigazione Alta Velocità (SNAV)

HSC Cat (ex Seacat Tasmania, Emeraude France, Incat 023 – Past and Present

IMO Number: 8903703

HSC Cat

ex Sea Speed Jet, Superfast Cat, Emeraude France, Seacat Tasmania, Seacat Calais, Atlantic II, Croazia Jet, Seacat France

Nigel Thornton Collection

Nigel Thornton Collection

Aluminium 74 Metre ‘Wave Piercing’ Catamaran built in 1990 by International Catamarans Australia Pty Ltd (Incat), Hobart, Australia (Yard No 023) as a car and passenger ferry for Hoverspeed Ltd, Nassau, Bahamas

Technical Data

  • Length: 73.6m
  • Breadth: 26.00m
  • Draught: 3.90m
  • Tonnage: 3,003 gross/200 deadweight
  • Engines: Four 16-cyl, Ruston 16RK270 diesels.
  • Power: 14,600 kW
  • Speed: 36 knots
  • Capacity: 450 passengers, 88 cars
  • Call Sign: VNSC (1990 – 1993) , 8POW (current 2008)
  • IMO Number: 8903703
  • Registry: Nassau/Bahamas 🇧🇸, Bridgetown/Barbados 🇧🇧, George Town/Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 🇻🇨, Avatiu/Cook Islands 🇨🇰 (May 2014)
  • Sister ships: Patricia Olivia, Hoverspeed Great Britain, Hoverspeed France, Hoverspeed Belgium, Seacat Scotland, Stena Sea Lynx, Condor 10, Juan L.

History

October 7th 1990: Launched

Justin Merrigan Collection

Justin Merrigan Collection

December 1990: Delivered to Hoverspeed Ltd, Nassau, Bahamas.

December 22nd 1990: Chartered to Tasmania Ferry Service, Tasmania, Australia (a subsidiary of Sea Containers). Commenced service between George Town – Port Welshpool.

© Gary Davies  © Gary Davies

© Gary Davies (Maritime Photographic)

June 1992 – September 1992: Chartered to Hoverspeed, England. Commenced service between Dover – Calais or Folkestone – Boulogne.

© Andreas Wörteler  © Andreas Wörteler

© Andreas Wörteler (Boulogne, 11/07/1992)

© Peter Longhurst  © Robert J Smith

Dover, August 1992 © Peter Longhurst (left) and Boulogne, 12/09/1992 © Robert J Smith (right)

September 25th 1992: Left for Australia.

November 1992: Commenced service between George Town – Port Welshpool.

June 21st 1993: Commenced service between Dover – Calais and Folkestone – Boulogne.

Nicolas Levy Collection

© Fotoflite (Nicolas Levy Collection)

July 1st 1993: Commenced service on the new Dover Western Docks – Calais service.

July 22nd 1993: Renamed SEACAT CALAIS.

December 13th 1993 – September 19th 1993: Used solely on Folkestone – Boulogne.

November 25th 1993: Left for South America.

December 15th 1993: Arrived Buenos Aires. Chartered for 5 years with an option of purchase to Navegacion Atlantida, Uruguay. Renamed ATLANTIC II.

December 17th 1993: Commenced service for Ferry Lineas Argentina A/S operated between Montevideo – Buenos Aires.

December 1998: Charter completed and left for Falmouth and, on arrival, laid up.

April 30th 1999: Commenced service between Dover – Calais.

© Andreas Wörteler  © Andreas Wörteler

© Andreas Wörteler (Calais, June 1999)

© Robert J Smith

© Robert J Smith (Dover, 31/08/1999)

1999 (Autumn): Laid up in Dover.

May 19th 2000: Left Dover for Ancona.

May 2002: Renamed CROAZIA JET. Transferred to Saint Vincent flag, home port Georgetown.

June 1st 2000 – October 2000: Commenced service with SNAV between Ancona – Split, thereafter laid up.

June 14th 2001 – October 4th 2001: Operated between Ancona – Split, then laid up.

© Frank Heine  © Frank Heine

© Frank Heine (Ancona, 22/07/2001)

May 2002: Renamed SEACAT FRANCE.

© Andreas Wörteler  © Andreas Worteler

© Andreas Wörteler (Calais, 03/10/2002)

May 14th 2002: Commenced service between Dover – Calais.

2003: Laid up with A&P Birkenhead, England.

April 2004: Arrived Cherbourg for full overhaul and refit.

July 17th 2004: Arrived in Dover to take up service to Calais

© Nigel Thornton

© Nigel Thornton

© Pieter Inpyn  © Pieter Inpyn

© Pieter Inpyn (Calais, 01/08/2004)

July 24th 2004: Re-entered service with Hoverspeed taking the 13.00 sailing ex Dover. Like the SEACAT SCOTLAND, she retained a white hull with both Seacat and Hoverspeed branding.

February 2005: Chartered to Emeraude Ferries, France. Renamed EMERAUDE FRANCE.

February 1st 2005: Arrived at Dover for fitting out.

February 11th 2005: Left Dover for Newhaven.

© Ian Collard

© Ian Collard

February 14th 2005: Shown (Aislive) as being in St Malo.

© Nicolas Lévy  © Nicolas Lévy

© Nicolas Lévy

© Nicolas Lévy

April 2005: Charter completed.

April 5th 2005: Having left St Malo, arrived in Dover and berthed at Cruise Terminal 1.

© Nigel Thornton  © Nigel Thornton

© Nigel Thornton

© Nigel Thornton

April 9th 2005: After spending some time at the Prince of Wales pier berth (am) she departed for Sunderland.

December 14th 2005: She arrived Tilbury 18.43 and was moored alongside the SEACAT DIAMANT. Presumably Tilbury was a more convenient location to show her to potential buyers/charterers than Sunderland.

February 11th 2007: Sold for $2 million to Maritime Charter Sales of Douglas, Isle of Man.

March 2007: Chartered to the Isle Of Man Steam Packet Company, Douglas, Isle of Man.

March 28th 2007: She left Tilbury at 08.25. Her AIS showed destination Douglas, ETA 09.00 29/3

March 29th 2007: Arrived in Douglas, Isle Of Man.

September 2007: Charter completed.

September 6th 2007: Arrived at Tilbury and laid up.

September 2012: Still at Tilbury.

July 2013: Still in Tilbury docks.

© John Tweddell

© John Tweddell (Tilbury, July 2013)

May 1st 2014: Renamed SUPERFAST CAT

May 14th 2014: Left Tilbury under tow of the tug HUNTER, destination Piraeus.

© Ken Smith  © Ken Smith

© Ken Smith  © Ken Smith

© Ken Smith (Tilbury, 14/052014)

2015: Renamed SEA SPEED JET

February 2016: Reported to be in the ownership of Seajets, Greece. Her last reported location is the Chalkis shipyard, Alvis, Greece.

August 2016: Remains in Chalkis.

© Dimitris Mentakis (24/08/2016)

February 1st 2019: Renamed HSC CAT

August 2023: Reported to be in the ownership of Seajets, Greece. Her last reported location is the Chalkis shipyard, Alvis, Greece alongside the former HOVERSPEED GREAT BRITAIN.

© Google CNES/Airbus Maxar Technologies

August 2023, Chalkis Shipyard © Google CNES/Airbus Maxar Technologies 2023

All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions found. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Nigel Scutt (Fotoflite), Ian Collard, Gary Davies (Maritime Photographic), Incat Tasmania Pty Ltd, Frank Heine, Nicolas Lévy, Justin Merrigan, Peter Longhurst, Dimitris Mentakis, Ken Smith, Robert J Smith, John Tweddell and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in producing this feature.

Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos Group)

2 Comments

  1. Hello,
    Could you please assit me with the site information about Emeraud France where is docked in Tilbury,
    Please assit me find contact details, as i want it for buy or rent it.
    Please reply to my e-mail at your earliest!!

    Regards
    Athanasios

    1. Hi Athanasios,

      I am very sorry but that is outside of our remit as a website. We are not a ship-broker, we deal with photography and the historical aspect of ships that have served routes from the Port of Dover.

      May I suggest that if you wish to `buy’ or `rent’ the Emeraude France that you contact a ship-broker? The only contact details I have found on line were via Equasis (www.equasis.org) are that her registered owner since May 2011 is SADCO International Ltd, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

      Tilbury Docks is located just to the East of London on the River Thames, this link to a Google map will show you it’s exact location https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=google+maps+tilbury&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x47d8b618004a319b:0x3acd4e307ba387d4,Tilbury,+Thurrock&gl=uk&ei=hpr_UdjRBqXb0QXXwoHADA&ved=0CDEQ8gEwAA

      Regards
      Ray Goodfellow

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