The vehicle-passenger ferry, known as APT James, is Austal Vietnam's first vessel to have been built following the shipyard's official opening in November 2018.

The Austal Auto Express 94 is an all-new catamaran aluminum design, capable of traveling at speeds of up to 37.5 knots for 926 passengers and 250 cars.

The ship would have an integrated motion control system, to provide passengers and crew with a more relaxed and stable voyage, the manufacturer said.

The operation, which took place over a period of five days, consisted of rolling off the vessel on a self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT) from the V Tàu shipyard of Austal Vietnam to a barge, which was then towed up the Saigon River to Ho Chi Minh City.

The vessel was then towed back to V Tàu where, in the second half of 2020, the vessel will be placed side by side under planned delivery to NIDCo for final internal fit.

On the next project for the shipyard, a new 41-meter high-speed catamaran ferry for Mauritius' SGTM, announced in January 2020, Austal Vietnam has already commenced construction.

Maritime Business World