The new ship will be ready for the 2020 season and Fjord Line has announced that the introduction of the new 40-knot high-speed craft will see an extended summer season although Rickard Ternblom, Fjord Line's CEO, told Shippax that no decision has yet been taken on when the season will end and start. FJORD CAT now plies the Kristiansand-Hirtshals route in the April-September period, being laid up for the remainder of the year.

FJORD CAT has had some technical issues earlier this year, but the order is totally unrelated to this. "You don't order a ship in one day, we have been working on this fantastic project for quite some time," Mr Ternblom commented on the telephone.

He declined to speculate on the future of FJORD CAT, but he said that the company will keep investing in it, regardless of the order.
So, it remains to be seen whether Fjord Line will keep FJORD CAT and e.g. transfer it to the Sandefjord-Strömstad service where Fjord Line has won the concession for two extra sailing slots, or will dispose of the 1998-built vessel.

The catamaran service is the fastest crossing between Norway and Denmark and the 2-hour-15-minute crossing will be retained. However, the Austal craft will have an increased deck height on the main vehicle deck. Fjord Line will therefore also tap into the freight market as the newbuilding will have a freight capacity of more than 500 lanemetres. Alternatively, it can take up to 404 cars across two decks - double the capacity of FJORD CAT. The number of passengers will be increased too – from 676 to 1,200.

The new ship will boast a light and airy Scandinavian décor with a 250m² tax-free shopping complex, three food concepts and a dedicated children and family section.

Last year, FJORD CAT performed 576 sailings on the route, carrying 213,000 passengers.

Technical details Austal newbuild (FJORD CAT's characteristics between brackets)

Length: 109m (91m)
Width: 30.5m (26m)
Depth under the waterline: 3.8m (3.8m)
Passengers: 1,200 (676)
Passenger vehicles: 404 (200)
Freight: >500 lanemetres (0 m)
Speed: 40 knots (40 knots)
.
© Shippax / Philippe Holthof