The next generation of Red Funnel high-speed passenger ferries is taking shape in Australia and is set to come into service next year in time for the hectic summer holiday season.
Red Jet 4, with a price tag of £2.6m, will be the largest catamaran to be operated by Red Funnel between Southampton and Cowes, Isle of Wight.
The new vessel, soon to be a familiar sight in and around the port, will follow the basic design principles of the present Red Jet 3 but at 39 metres the craft will be five metres longer.
Designed to carry 277 passengers, Red Jet 4 is expected in Southampton in May 2003, officially entering service the following month.
Alistair Whyte, managing director of Red Funnel, said: "Red Jet 4 will be invaluable to us in continuing to provide a first class service to customers and will allow us to grow our cross-Solent operations.''
Owned by JP Morgan, the long established Southampton company at present operates three roll-on/roll-off car ferries and three fast passenger catamarans on the cross-Solent route.
Recently Red Funnel began operating alongside the Scottish ferry company, Caledonian MacBrayne in the Firth of Clyde providing a winter passenger service between the towns of Gourock and Dunoon.
Red Funnel have also sold off its last two remaining hydrofoils, Shearwater 5 and Shearwater 6, which last saw service about four years ago, to a holiday diving company in Thailand.
