FASTSHIP SIGNS $1-BILLION ROLLS ROYCE ENGINE CONTRACT

   FastShip said it has signed a $1-billion contract with Rolls Royce to
supply gas turbines for its high-speed cargo ships.
   Rolls Royce will build 25 marine Trent gas turbines — five in each
FastShip’s initial four vessels and five spares. Each engine has the
equivalent power of two Boeing 747 jet engines.
   Developers of FastShip say that each turbine unit will drive one Kamewa water jet, delivering about 335,000 horsepower. This propulsion will enable its 860-foot vessels, carrying a 10,000-ton cargo load, to transit the Atlantic between Philadelphia and Cherbourg, France, in four days.
   Although a ship has yet to be built, the Philadelphia-based company says it plans to start operations in 2002, with the beginning of commercial operations in early 2003.
   Financing for the business, which is due to be completed later this
year, already includes support from the U.S. Maritime Administration Title XI Guarantee Program, equipment suppliers, the port authorities of
Philadelphia and Cherbourg, and equity funding from financial markets, the company said.