Fjord Line newbuild employs armed guards to transit Gulf of Aden

Norway’s Fjord Line says it is taking no chances on the voyage home for its latest newbuilding, the ferry Fjord FSTR. The new 1,200-passenger catamaran has embarked armed guards for its journey from shipbuilder, Austal, in the Philippines, through the troubled Gulf of Aden and Red Sea.

The ship was delivered in February and there are 11 Fjord Line crew aboard. Fjord Line announced on Facebook that the vessel will ply the Hirtshals, Denmark to Kristiansand, Norway route. The vessel reached the Gulf on 19th March, and although piracy in the Red Sea has died down in recent months, the current conflict in Yemen poses a threat to vessels transiting the area.

Fjord Line said: “Fjord FSTR therefore has a specially trained safety team on board, which helps to bring both ship and crew safely through the area… The vessel will also be able to hit a top speed of 37 knots if pursued. This is about 70 km per hour. So while our high-speed catamaran has so far sailed as fuel-efficiently as possible, the crew is now getting ready to accelerate so that they arrive as quickly as possible at the Egyptian port of Suez in the northern part of the Red Sea.”