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Whatever became of the Cat?
Jul. 6th, 2007 09:20 pmI've discussed in this space "the Cat" fast ferry (also known as the Spirit of Ontario I) which ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gmjambear and I had the pleasure of riding from Rochester to Toronto and back.
While surfing the Net and looking at the new Hawaii Superferry, built by Austal USA, an American subsidiary of Austal Ships (who built the Cat), and newly arrived in the Islands, Gary pointed out that the specifications are so similar that they reminded him of the Cat (but the new Hawaii Superferry is ever so slightly larger, just over 100 meters as opposed to just under 90). So I asked him whether the vessel we rode on had left the Port of Rochester yet, and he said she's already traveled to her new home at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. Here's what she looks like now:
[Update: The picture above is sourced from Wikipedia, where an article details the entire history of the ship.]
The Cat, built in Australia, could not be used for a purely domestic run such as a Lake Michigan crossing, because US maritime law forbids a foreign-built vessel from serving more than one US port without a foreign port in between. (It could have been used to cross Lake Erie from Ohio to Ontario, if it could fit through the Welland Canal). So in order to make the sale to Hawaii, the Superferry had to be built in the US (in this case in Alabama) by a newly-created American subsidiary.
gmjambear and I had the pleasure of riding from Rochester to Toronto and back.While surfing the Net and looking at the new Hawaii Superferry, built by Austal USA, an American subsidiary of Austal Ships (who built the Cat), and newly arrived in the Islands, Gary pointed out that the specifications are so similar that they reminded him of the Cat (but the new Hawaii Superferry is ever so slightly larger, just over 100 meters as opposed to just under 90). So I asked him whether the vessel we rode on had left the Port of Rochester yet, and he said she's already traveled to her new home at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. Here's what she looks like now:
[Update: The picture above is sourced from Wikipedia, where an article details the entire history of the ship.]
The Cat, built in Australia, could not be used for a purely domestic run such as a Lake Michigan crossing, because US maritime law forbids a foreign-built vessel from serving more than one US port without a foreign port in between. (It could have been used to cross Lake Erie from Ohio to Ontario, if it could fit through the Welland Canal). So in order to make the sale to Hawaii, the Superferry had to be built in the US (in this case in Alabama) by a newly-created American subsidiary.