Brisbanes Iconic City Cats

From the hulls up, the entire structure is a composite design with varying laminates chosen to meet the strength requirements while minimizing weight. Weight reduction was critical to allow the 130 passenger ferry to meet the speed expectations up to 30 knots, while using smaller, quieter and more fuel efficient engines for environmental considerations.

BAC was chosen to produce one slip-set per month because of proven ability to handle the large components (up to 17m*7m) under tight timeframes and with both engineering and resource controls.

BAC completed all composite componentry, which included the side bulwarks, walls, floors, interior seating, toilet cubicles, wheelhouse, roof and bonnet, for the six vessels in just 24 weeks – on schedule. One vessel was completed every 4 weeks – a remarkable effort considering that each composite foam sandwich superstructure weighed 2,200kg.