Voskhod (hydrofoil)

Voskhod (Russian: Восход, literally "Sunrise"), also known as "Design 352", "Design 03521" and Eurofoil, is a type of passenger hydrofoil boat built in the Soviet Union and later in Ukraine. It is intended for use in rivers and lakes, but good seaworthiness allows them to operate in coastal sea areas as well.

Voskhod
A Voskhod type hydrofoil on Volga river near Balakhna (2002).
Class overview
Builders: Morye shipbuilding plant, Feodosiya, Ukraine
Preceded by: Raketas
General characteristics
Type: hydrofoil
Length: 27.6 m (90 ft 7 in)
Beam: 6.4 m (21 ft 0 in)
Draft:
  • 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) (displacement mode)
  • 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) (foilborne)
Installed power: 810 kW (1,090 hp)
Speed: 60 km/h (32 kn; 37 mph)
Range: 500 km (270 nmi; 310 mi)
Capacity: 71 passengers

History

Voskhod was designed to replace older passenger hydrofoil boats: Raketas and Meteors. The first boat of this type was built at the Morye shipbuilding plant in Feodosiya, USSR). By the early 1990s, around 150 Voskhod boats had been built. However, the production almost ceased later on, due to the problems the mostly-military manufacturer experienced adapting to the new economic situation in the country.

Worldwide use

Besides the Soviet Union, Voskhods were exported to 18 other countries, including Canada, Greece, Vietnam, China, Yugoslavia, Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Thailand, Turkey. In 2002 three Voskhod-type boats (model Voskhod-2M FFF, also known as Eurofoil), were built for the Dutch public transport operator Connexxion.

In Vietnam the Voskhod boats are operating a daily route between the Cat Ba island and city of Hai Phong.

In the Netherlands, Voskhod-Eurofoil boats operated along the North Sea Canal between Amsterdam Centraal railway station and IJmuiden near the North Sea coast.[1] The scheduled service takes half an hour, and is part of the national public transport network serving both commuters and tourists. The boats have been modified for the Dutch market to securely carry passengers' bicycles in racks on the upper deck.

When the line first opened in 1998, it used four Voskhods that had been previously used in Ukraine. In 2002, three new boats were built for Connexxion in Feodosiya (604, 605, 606; in the Netherlands, however, each one received a "personal" name). Connexxion then sold three of the old Voskhods, but the fourth, Annemarie, is kept by the operator as a spare boat. In February 2013 it was decided that the service will be terminated in 2014 due to a new speed limit.[2]

References
  1. "Fast Flying Ferry". Connexxion (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  2. "Fast Flying Ferry ends in 2014". Connexxion (in Dutch). 1 March 2013. Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
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