The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomed the delivery of its two Austal-built 289 ft high speed vehicle-passenger catamarans, ‘Riyadh’ and ‘Cairo’ during a handover ceremony in Jeddah attended by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Egyptian President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak.
Ordered by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance in 2007, the vessels are a gift to the Egyptian Government, and will assist in improving the standard of ferry services across the Red Sea. Operating on a 100 nautical mile route between Dibba in Saudi Arabia and Safaga in Egypt, the vessels are intended for Pilgrims travelling to Mecca, Egyptian workers travelling to and from Saudi Arabia as well as business and leisure travellers. Both vessels carry 1200 passengers, 120 cars and 15 trucks and recorded impressive service speeds of 37 knots during recent sea trials, three knots in excess of contract requirements. Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Ibrahim Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Assaf, the Saudi Arabian Minister of Finance said that the inauguration of the two vessels represented a qualitative leap and would establish a new phase in marine transport between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, reducing the current eight-hour trip between Dibba and Safaga by about two hours. The vessels will contribute in transporting about 1 million passengers every year, he added.
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