GTS Cyra
Ex Shadowfax
© Fotoflite
Aluminium alloy twin screw hydrofoil high speed passenger ferry built in 1964 by Aviolanda Maats. Voor Vliegtuigbouw N.V. Papendrecht (Yard No ).
Technical Data
- Length: 11.92 m (overall) 11.90 m (between perpendiculars)
- Breadth: 5.50 m
- Depth: m
- Draught: 2.3 m (reducing to 0.9m at full speed)
- Tonnage: 16t gross/ net/ t deadweight
- Engines: 2 x Boeing 502-10 Turbo Mariner gas turbines
- Power: kW/540 bHP
- Speed: 24 knots (fully foil borne) 32 knots (max)
- Capacity: 40 – 50 passengers
- Call Sign: MHDS
- IMO Number: 641368
- Official Number: 305994
- Port of Registry: London/UK 🇬🇧
History
May 1964: Completed as SHADOWFAX for International Aquavion (G.B.). at a cost of £65,000.
June 1st 1964: Sailed from Holland and demonstrated/trials in both Calais and Dover.
© Fotoflite
© Fotoflite
June 1st – June 6th 1964: Demonstrated in London and Yarmouth.
June 7th 1964: Arrived in Orkney under charter to Orkney Islands Shipping Company for inter-island services.
June 8th 1964: One of her engines developed a serious fault which resulted in both of her engines being sent back to Holland to be over-hauled and repaired.
September 5th 1964: Scheduled service to all the islands.
Orkney Image Library
September 22nd 1964: One of the engines caught fire soon after leaving Kirkwall Pier. Thought to have been caused by an oil leak, It was soon extinguished by the crew but the vessel was unable to continue her journey. This was the last trip the vessel was to make, as she returned to Holland soon after.
April 1965: Failed service
“ On May 17th Casmic Shipping Ltd, associates of Jersey Lines Ltd (which runs the Channel Islands-France ferry LA DUCHESSE de NORMANDIE), will inaugurate England’s first hydrofoil passenger service between Southampton and Cowes, Isle of Wight They are using the gas-turbine driven Cyra built by International Aquavion The craft carries forty passengers and luggage at nearly 40mph, and will do the trip each way In about twenty minutes Instead of the present crossing time of one hour I he ofIlcla1 timetable will be announced shortly, and it‘s planned to provide up to twelve round trips every day of the week”.
“Sometime around this same period she carried out more trials back in Holland, crossing the IJsselmeer between Enkhuizen and Stavoren, but this too was beset by problems as she struck a buoy rather forcefully and several passengers were injured. Here again, a scheduled service never started”.
1969: CYRA for A. E. Miller
“The final record of the CYRA seems to have been of her being used as a fast passenger ferry in Hamburg in the 1970s and 80s.”.
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All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Fotoflite and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in producing this feature.
Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos