YAMATO joins sister ship SETTSU on the Kitakyushu (Shinmoji)-Kobe route. © Hankyu Ferry

Hankyu Ferry to introduce YAMATO, but no further fleet expansion due to COVID-19

FerrySHK Line Group-controlled Hankyu Ferry will introduce its new YAMATO on the Kitakyushu (Shinmoji)-Kobe route on 30 June, joining sister ship SETTSU which debuted on the route on 10 March.

Built by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding's Shimonoseki shipyard, the 195m-long and 29.6m-beam YAMATO was handed over to Hankyu Ferry on 24 June. The scrubber-equipped ro-pax ferry has a capacity of 663 passengers and 277 8.5-metre trucks – equivalent to 2,700 lanemetres spread over three decks – plus 188 cars.

In addition to the Kitakyushu-Kobe route, Hankyu Ferry equally operates the Kitakyushu-Izumiotsu (Osaka) route with the 2015-built ro-pax ferries IZUMI and HIBIKI. There were plans on the table to expand the fleet from four to five ro-pax ferries from November 2020. Blaming a downturn in passenger numbers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these fleet expansion plans have now been shelved.

jun 29 2020