Ferry Vital Link for Island off Taiwan

by Alan Haig-Brown
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Cummins Vessel Reference #741

The Cummins-powered ferry ready for work.

Nearly 13,000 people inhabit the four by two-kilometer Linqiu Island located about 7.5 nautical miles southwest of the Donggang on the main island of Taiwan. Primarily fishermen, the island’s population is very dependant on the ferry service to get to the larger center on the main island.

Lingiu is also the only one of Taiwan’s smaller islands that has been formed by coral. Increasingly the fantastically shaped geographical forms and the excellent diving afforded by the coral has led to an increase in tourist visits. As commercial fishing can have fluctuations, this alternate economy is most welcome.

 

Loading passengers for the island.

Fast ferries depart from two of the island’s ports to make the run to the big island. One of these routes is owned by the Liouchiou Township and is serviced by their ferry Xintai.

The aluminum-hulled, mono-hull, 30- by 6.29-meter ferry is a twin engine with fixed pitch propellers. With the existing 12-V MTU-396-TE74L showing their age, the township decided that it was time to repower the ferry. Speed and reliability are the two governing factors for the ferry’s operation. This led the owners to choose a pair of V-16 four-stroke Cummins KTA50-M2 engines, each producing 1800 HP at 1900 RPM. The new engines turn into ZF BW465S marine gears with 2.529:1 reduction turning Cardon shafts fitted with Centra couplings to reduce vibration and noise.

When the new ferry returns to service, the people of Lingui Island will be assured of a reliable year-round link to the big island. And tourists, wanting to view the unique coral formations of the island, will enjoy a quick trip to and from their destination.


For further information:

Queena Yang
Cummins Taiwan Pte. Ltd.
Market Support Specialist – Marine & Industrial
Tel: 886 3 211 5160 | Extension: 821
Fax: 886 3 211 4158
Email: queena.yang@cummins.com.tw

Cindy Wang (Wang Lan)
Marketing Support
Marine Business East Asia
Cummins Inc. Shanghai Office.
Direct Line: 86 21 60852710
Fax: 86 21 60852666
Email: cindy.wang@cummins.com

Alan Haig-Brown

Alan Haig-Brown

Over 30 years as an author for global commercial marine and fishing publications backed with hands-on experience on commercial fishing boats and coastal freighters makes Alan Haig-Brown uniquely qualified to provide vessel reference articles for Cummins Marine. You can find him in shipyards around the world, and on his own website, www.haig-brown.com.

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