HSC Lake Express
American ferry on Lake Michigan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lake Express is a high-speed auto and passenger ferry that is in service on a route across Lake Michigan. Lake Express links the cities of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Muskegon, Michigan, from late spring to the fall of each year.
Lake Express at Muskegon | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | 2004 onwards: Lake Express |
| Operator | 2004 onwards: Lake Express |
| Port of registry | 2004 onwards: Milwaukee |
| Route | Milwaukee - Muskegon |
| Builder | Austal USA, Mobile |
| Yard number | US 614 |
| Identification | IMO number: 9329253 |
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 1,757 GT |
| Length | 191 ft 7 in (58.40 m)[1] |
| Beam | 57 ft 9 in (17.60 m)[1] |
| Draught | 8 ft 2 in (2.50 m) [1] |
| Installed power | 4 × MTU 16V 4000 M70 diesel engines[1] |
| Propulsion | 4 × Kamewa waterjets[1] |
| Speed | 34 kn (39 mph; 63 km/h)[1] |
| Capacity |
|
Background
The ship travels at a top speed of 34 knots (39 mph; 63 km/h)[1] and makes the 68-nautical-mile (78 mi; 126 km) trip three times daily from each side of the lake during the peak of its operational schedule. Lake Express is able to cross the lake in two and a half hours. It was constructed by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama,[1] and began service on June 1, 2004.[2] It was one of the first high-speed catamaran-style auto/passenger ferries built in the United States. It was also the first high-speed auto ferry to see service on the Great Lakes, beating out the Spirit of Ontario I, which was beset by a series of last-minute delays, by one month.
On August 21, 2005, the ferry rescued a man whose boat had capsized in the middle of Lake Michigan.[3]
Gallery
Terminal in Milwaukee Harbor
En route to Muskegon, Milwaukee fades away at the horizon
Lake express visible from airplane
See also
- SS Milwaukee Clipper, an earlier ferry that sailed the same Milwaukee-to-Muskegon route
- SS Badger, another ferry on a more northern route across Lake Michigan
