"Rygerdronningen" enters operation
MS Rygerdronningen (Picture: Tom Guldbransen)
The 300 pax carbon fibre catamaran "Rygerdronningen" was recently handed over to long time customer Rødne Trafikk AS, their 12th carbon fibre catamaran delivered from Brødrene Aa. The new build reached its hometown of Stavanger in late April after a beautiful maiden voyage down the west coast of Norway. Just a couple of days later it began taking tourists sightseeing on the famous Lysefjorden.
We are delighted to welcome ‘Rygerdronningen’ to our fleet. She lives up to all our hopes and has been an instant hit with passengers and crew alike,” says Rødne General Manager Lars Andre Rødne “Our first weeks with this beautiful new boat confirm what we have known for 50 years: Brødrene Aa always delivers the best in quality, materials, design and innovation. So it’s not by chance that we’ve bought 19 boats in a row from this outstanding shipyard since 1969.”
Energy efficient sightseeing vessel
"Rygerdronningen" features a brand new exterior design tailored to sightseeing operations. She has large panoramic windows, a custom made interior, an extensive refreshment kiosk and ample outside deck space partly sheltered in case of rain. As emphasized during the entire design process, the carbon fibre catamaran has become highly energy efficient, making close to 20 knots fully loaded while consuming less than 10 litres of diesel per nautical mile.
Anders Rødne in Hyen taking delivery of vessel nr.19 from Brødrene Aa
(Picture: Eikeseth Nygjerd Fotografi)
Rødne`s 19th vessel from Brødrene Aa
"Rygerdronningen" is not the first vessel Anders Rødne (picture) has taken delivery of from Brødrene Aa. Almost 50 years ago he brought Rødne`s first vessel home from Hyen. That was "MS Rygerøy" a monohull passenger vessel made of Oregon pine. Since then, Rødne Trafikk AS has purchased 18 more vessels from Brødrene Aa, twelve of which are made in carbon fibre composite. In fact, Rødne was an important factor in initiating Brødrene Aa`s carbon fibre era by ordering the yards first carbon fibre vessel and also the three subsequent ones.
"Rødne is a very special customer for us. Rødne was in the forefront when they contracted the first commercial vessel in carbon fiber, "Rygerdoktoren" in 2001, which started a new era for our yard. We appreciate our long term relationship with Rødne and we are very pleased to hand over their largest vessel so far, says managing director Tor Øyvin Aa.
More about "Rygerdronningen" can be found on the vessel`s page here.