RIVER watchers will be seeing a SuperSeaCat in the Mersey over the next few weeks. The pioneering fast ferry from Dublin heralds an era of ro ro ferries from Birkenhead and Liverpool.

12 Quays, Birkenhead, and Trafalgar Dock, Liverpool, are expected to be operational in 1999. SuperSeaCat will enter service on the Liverpool-to-Dublin route on Thursday, March 12, carrying 774 passengers and 175 cars at over 37 knots.

Sea Containers' Irish Sea Operations MD Hamish Ross, announcing the new service, said: "We revitalised the historic link between the two great cities of Liverpool and Dublin with the launch of a conventional ferry and a SeaCat high-speed catamaran service in June last year. Our experience confirmed the potential of the route. Now we are delighted to introduce SuperSeaCat. Research shows the Irish market is likely to improve significantly in the years ahead."

SuperSeaCat will make its debut in the Mersey early February during berthing trials at Princess Quay, Pier Head.

Transport Minister Glenda Jackson has approved the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board plan for a ro ro ferry at 12 Quays. Wallasey MP Angela Eagle welcomed the announcement when she started building work on the 12 Quays riverfront site, where around 2,000 jobs will be created in and around a high-tech university campus. This is a flagship development for Merseyside Development Corporation as it prepares to wind down.

MDC Chief Executive Chris Farrow said Merseyside Development Corporation, Easter Capital, Liverpool John Moores University, the Government Office for Merseyside and Wirral Council were involved in this first phase of a speculative business development.

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