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HSC Tallink AutoExpress 2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tallink AutoExpress 2 at quay 8 in Port of Tallinn on June 21, 2007.
History
Name
  • 1997–2001: Boomerang
  • 2001–2018: Tallink AutoExpress 2
Owner
  • 1997–2001: Sea Tropid, Cyprus
  • 2001–2007: Tallink
  • 2007–2009: HansaLink, Cyprus
  • 2009–2018: Conferry
Operator
  • 1997–2001: Polferries
  • 2001–2007: Tallink
  • 2007–2018: Conferry
Port of registry
BuilderAustal, Henderson, Western Australia
Yard number53
Launched1 March 1997
Completed12 October 1997[2]
Out of service2018
Identification
FateSank and later scrapped
General characteristics [3]
Tonnage5,419 GT
Length82.3 m (270 ft 0 in)
Beam23.0 m (75 ft 6 in)
Draught2.8 m (9 ft 2 in)
Installed power4 x MTU 20V 1163 TB73 diesel engines
Propulsion4 x Kamewa waterjets
Speed38 knots (service speed)
Capacity
  • 700 passengers
  • 175 cars

The HSC Tallink AutoExpress 2 was a fast passenger ferry (catamaran) operated by the Venezuelan ferry company Conferry on the line between Puerto la Cruz and Punta de Piedras, Margarita Island. She sank in 2018 and later she was scrapped.

History

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HSC Boomerang was built in 1997 by Austal in Australia to their "AutoExpress 82" design and owned by Sea Tropid Co. Ltd., Cyprus for operation by Polferries between Świnoujście, Poland and Malmö, Sweden. In 2001 the ship was bought by Tallink and renamed Tallink AutoExpress 2, for the Tallinn, Estonia, to Helsinki, Finland route. On 12 October 2007, the ship collided with HSC SuperSeaCat Three in Tallinn harbour, resulting a metre-long hole in the ship's side. There were no serious injuries incurred.[1]

On 3 November 2007, Tallink AutoExpress 2 arrived at Curaçao Drydocks prior to service with Conferry, a ferry operator in Venezuela, under a two-year charter on their domestic Punta de Piedras, Isla MargaritaPuerto La Cruz route.[4] The ferry was bought by Conferry in 2009. In 2017 it was taken out of operation and laid up at Guanta due to lack of funds caused by economic crisis in Venezuela.

Tallink AutoExpress 2 partially sank at her berth at Guanta on 6 August 2018, due to a lack of proper maintenance.[5] In December 2021, she was broken up at the DIANCA shipyard in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Tallink Autoexpress 2 (ex. Boomerang)". faergelejet.dk (in Danish). 2022. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Boomerang (9150286)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  3. ^ Boomerang Archived 13 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine Austal
  4. ^ "Chartering of fast ferry Tallink Autoexpress 2". Tallink Grupp. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021 – via GlobeNewswire.
  5. ^ Torkin, Nikolay (7 August 2018). "Ferry sank in Venezuela". Maritime Bulletin. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2021.