Built by Incat of Tasmania, Australia, she was a commercial ferry for TT-Line as the Devil Cat before being converted for military purpose. A flight deck was added to accommodate various helicopters in the US Navy arsenal.
Joint Venture is rapidly re-configurable and can perform a variety of missions, principal among them the ability to ferry up to 325 combat personnel and 400 tons of cargo up to 3000 miles one way at speeds in excess of 40 knots.
Joint Venture was handed back to Incat in HobartTasmania in early 2008. She has under gone a refit and painting in the Express Ferries livery and was planned to enter service with them as a car and passenger ferry, but this never materialised.
Isle of Man
On May 19, 2008, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company announced the purchase of the vessel for £20 million, and is planned to replace the existing fastcraft HSC Viking. The 96 metre wave piercing catamaran will be the largest vessel of its kind in the Irish Sea. Because of its most recent use, the Steam Packet Company says it has significantly fewer hours of service than a vessel of comparable age and will be ideally suited for the substantial refit proposed.
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"The purchase is a real step forward for the company and represents a significant investment. We have looked at a number of possible vessels and we believe we have found the craft that most ideally meets our requirements for a versatile, high capacity vessel which is capable of serving our passengers' expectations for increased comfort and reliability."
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— Mark Woodward, CEO
The Incat 050 will receive a significantly new profile in a major refit on the south coast of England and should enter service around the summer 2009.