|
GTS ''Finnjet'' was a cruiseferry, built in 1977 by Wärtsilä Helsinki, Finland for Finnlines traffic between Finland and Germany. At the time of her delivery, ''Finnjet'' was the fastest, longest and largest car ferry in the world, and the only one powered by gas turbines. At the point of her scrapping in 2008, she remained the fastest conventional ferry in the world, with a recorded top speed of . ''Finnjet'' had remained out of service since 2005, laid up in Baton Rouge, Freeport and Genoa. Although she was purchased by Club Cruise in November 2007 and renamed MS ''Da Vinci'' in January 2008 for rebuilding into a cruise ship,〔〔 the ship was sold for scrap in May 2008. Following the sale she was renamed MS ''Kingdom'' for her final voyage to the scrapyard in Alang, India where scrapping finally started in September 2008.〔http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Demolition+of+iGTS+Finnjeti+is+well+under+way+in+India/1135239881500 〕 ==Overview== ''Finnjet'' was built by Wärtsilä at the Helsinki New Shipyard (now Aker Finnyards) (Build-No. 407) in Helsinki, Finland and delivered to Enso-Gutzeit to serve in their subsidiary Finnlines.〔〔 The ship was built specifically for the route between Helsinki in Finland and Travemünde in West Germany which Finnlines had previously trafficked with slower conventional ferries.〔〔 Thanks to her gas turbine engines and top speed of , a one-way crossing was planned to take only 22 hours for the ship. At the time Travemünde was the closest port to Finland in mainland Western Europe, being located in the Federal German state of Schleswig-Holstein just west of the border with East Germany. In addition to being the largest and fastest ship of her time, ''Finnjet'' is also widely considered to have been the first genuine cruiseferry. Her cabins were very much ahead of their time for a ferry, it was not until over a decade later when other ferries would match the size and fittings of ''Finnjet'' 's cabins. Her restaurants and other services were also superior to other ferries of her time. ''Finnjet'' 's influence can be clearly seen on the first genuine cruiseferries built for Finland–Sweden traffic in 1980–81, ships such as MS ''Viking Song'', MS ''Viking Sally'' and MS ''Finlandia''. Partially due to being such a ground-breaking ship, ''Finnjet'' was also extremely prestigious, which helps explain why she remained in traffic on the Baltic Sea for such a long time even though she was often unprofitable. Famous Finnish painter Kimmo Kaivanto provided paintings and drawings to decorate the ship, and he even designed a ''Finnjet'' medallion to commemorate the ship's commission. Kaivanto's main work for the ship, the three-deck high ''Pictures of Finland'', was given to the Finnish Maritime Museum in 2007, destined for display in the museum from 2008 onwards. In 1977 a 7" single, Finnjet Waltz, was recorded in honour of the ship, and she was the first ship ever to have a Lego model of her for sale on board. As late as the early 1990s Silja Line still considered ''Finnjet'' to be one of their greatest ships, and in their brochures she appeared right after the brand-new Helsinki–Stockholm ferries, ahead of many ships that were both newer and larger than ''Finnjet'' herself was. ''Finnjet'' still remains the best-known individual ship in Finland. She also has a very good reputation in Germany still, and recently (August 2006) Silja Line's new owners Tallink went on record considering adapting the name 'Finnjet' for their Finland–Germany ferries (to the dismay of ferry enthustiasts in Finland and Germany).〔(Finnjetweb forums – Finnjet II? (Superfast renamings) ). Retrieved 21 July 2007〕 However ''Finnjet'' is a registered trademark of Finnlines (until 2017) and therefore Tallink could not go ahead with their plan.〔 (Finnish Trademark Register ). Retrieved 9 May 2007〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「GTS Finnjet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|