Detroit Jet
 Detroit Jet in Tarifa | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | |
| Route | Tarifa (Spain) – Tangier Ville (Morocco) |
| Ordered | 1999 |
| Builder |
|
| Yard number | 86 |
| Laid down | 1 September 1999 |
| Launched | 11 March 2000 |
| Completed | 24 May 2000 |
| Acquired | May 2000 |
| Maiden voyage | June 2000 |
| In service | June 2000 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | Laid up |
| Notes | Sister ship to Morocco Express 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Austal Auto Express 72m |
| Tonnage |
|
| Length | 72.00 m (236 ft 3 in) |
| Beam | 17.50 m (57 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 2.80 m (9 ft 2 in) |
| Depth | 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) |
| Installed power | 4 × MTU 16V595 TE70 diesel engines (total 15,464 kW) |
| Propulsion | 4 × Kamewa waterjets |
| Speed | 35.0 knots (64.8 km/h; 40.3 mph) (service) 40.0 knots (74.1 km/h; 46.0 mph) (max) |
| Capacity |
|
| Crew | 24 |
Detroit Jet is a 72-meter high-speed catamaran passenger and vehicle ferry built by the prominent Australian shipyard Austal. Originally, the ferry was built as Highspeed 2 for Minoan Flying Dolphins to operate in the Cyclades. She has spent the majority of her recent career operating in the Mediterranean, serving as a high-speed link across the Strait of Gibraltar between Europe and North Africa.
Service
[edit]The catamaran, the first of a series of two sister units, was launched on 11 March 2000 at the Austal specialist shipyard in Fremantle with the name of Highspeed 2 and delivered on 24 May to the Greek company Minoan Flying Dolphins,[1] for which it entered service at the end of the month on the routes between Piraeus and the islands of Milos and Mykonos, in the Cyclades. In January 2005 it was then transferred to the newly formed Hellenic Seaways.[2]
On 5 January 2010, after approximately ten years of service in the Aegean, the catamaran was chartered to Comarit, from which it was put on the routes between Tangier and Tarifa, where it was joined by its sister ship Highspeed 3 in February, the month in which it was purchased outright by the Moroccan company. In April it was then renamed Bissat.[3] However, just two years later, in May 2012, due to the economic difficulties of the company, the catamaran was laid up in Tarifa together with the Boraq, being sold three months later to the company Maroc Lising, from which it was immediately chartered to the compatriot Inter Shipping, returning to service in the Strait of Gibraltar, on the routes between Tangier and Ceuta.[4] Subsequently, the Spanish port of call was transferred to Tarifa .[5] However, on 27 June 2023, with the bankruptcy of the company, the catamaran was again disarmed in Tangier, where it remains today.[6] Following her arrest and subsequent abandonment at the port of Tangier Ville in August 2023, the Commercial Court of Tangier ordered the forced sale of the Detroit Jet. The management company of the port initiated legal proceedings to auction off the catamaran to recover unpaid port fees and debts left behind by her operator, Inter Shipping. The public auction was scheduled for 17 June 2026, with a starting bid set at 35 million Moroccan dirhams (approximately €3.3 million).[7]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Austal Delivers 72 metre Catamaran to Greece | Austal". www.austal.com. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
- ↑ "HSC HIGHSPEED 2 (2000)". www.faktaomfartyg.se. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
- ↑ "HSC Detroit Jet — The Ferry Site". www.ferry-site.dk. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
- ↑ "Detroit Jet". www.naviecapitani.it. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
- ↑ Lorenzo, Juan Carlos Díaz (2022-09-02). ""Detroit Jet", de Inter Shipping, a la línea Tarifa-Tánger Ville » Puente de Mando". Puente de Mando (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2026-07-16.
- ↑ "Transport maritime: le marocain Intershipping au bord de la faillite, le gouvernement à la recherche de nouveaux investisseurs". Le 360 Français (in French). Retrieved 2026-07-16.
- ↑ Fortea, Alba (2026-05-19). "The Port Authority of Tangier Ville Auctions the Catamaran "Detroit Jet" for 3.3 Million Euros » Puente de Mando". Puente de Mando. Retrieved 2026-07-16.