HSC INCAT 046

Ferry built in 1997

HSC INCAT 046 was a wave piercing catamaran passenger vehicle ferry. It operated under various marketing names, including Devil Cat, The Cat, The Lynx, and lastly The T&T Express.

HSC INCAT 046 was a vessel built by InCat Australia in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1997 as hull 046. She was a sister ship to HSC Express (holder of a Trans Atlantic speed record), HSC Max Mols and HSC Master Cat, all of which are Incat91 models. INCAT 046 was constructed from marine grade aluminium alloys. Each water borne hull was subdivided into multiple watertight compartments connected by an arched bridging structure with a central forward hull above the smooth water line. Each water borne hull carried two engines which drove water jets mounted on the transom. Vehicles were stowed in and between both waterborne hulls in a configuration of rising and descending decks which loaded from a single level transfer bridge at the stern. The main passenger deck was immediately above the vehicle decks and consisted of a cafe, gift shop, children's play area and passenger seating lounges, as well as an outside observation deck that ran the width of the ship at the stern. The passenger seating lounges had overhead television monitors which played movies or television broadcasts, as well as a continuously updated map showing the vessel's GPS coordinates. A smaller secondary passenger deck was located one deck up and has a bar immediately aft of the wheelhouse.

HSC INCAT 046 was constructed for TT Line and operated across Australia's Bass Strait on the world's longest distance high speed ferry service (marketed as Devil Cat), between Station Pier, Port Melbourne, Victoria to The Esplanade, George Town, Tasmania. Typical service speed was with fares averaging $100 (AUD) one way in peak season (Dec–Jan) and $92 one way in shoulder season (Jan–Apr). Weather conditions in the Bass Strait often led to cancellation during storms and heavy seas, with five cancellations in the first ten weeks of operating. The vessel operated seasonally on the Yarmouth–Bar Harbor route from May–October. In early 2002, HSC INCAT 046 was sold to Incat by Bay Ferries, as a trade in for the newer and larger capacity HSC The Cat, which, in the case of this vessel, is its official registered name.

The vessel was leased by Incat to the Interisland Line, a New Zealand company, for which it was used in the Cook Strait that year, using the marketing name The Lynx; however, operating issues relating to its wake saw the vessel returned to Incat in early 2003 where it was laid up in Hobart.

Bay Ferries subsequently repurchased the vessel and leased it under a wet charter (crewed and operated by Bay Ferries) for a route in Trinidad and Tobago between Port of Spain and Scarborough. Bay Ferries maintained the Interisland Line's marketing graphics on the vessel and referred to it as The Lynx during this period.

The vessel was purchased from Bay Ferries by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago's Ministry of Works and Transport in 2006. She maintained the official registered name of INCAT 046 but was marketed as the T&T Express and operated by Bay Ferries Management Ltd. on behalf of the government. She operated the interisland service between Port of Spain and Scarborough in conjunction with the .

The vessel sank after being sold by the TT Government on its journey to Spain to its new owners, Transmapi.