AUSTRALIAN shipbuilder Cougar Catamarans has won two orders valued at A$5.5 million (about HK$27.6 million) with a Shanghai shipping consortium.
The Queensland-based shipbuilder has designed and is manufacturing a 27.2-metre ferry powered by two 92TA Detroit engines seating 220 passengers and a 32-metre ferry powered by two 1491 Detroit engines seating 260 passengers.
Cougar Catamarans general manager John Thieme said the orders followed the company's first export to China, Ying Bin 5, which was launched in March by Queensland Premier Wayne Goss during his trade visit to Hong Kong.
''Ying Bin 5 is a 200-seat fast ferry built to Det Norske Veritas Class and Australian USL Class survey standards and operates at speeds up to 25 knots,'' said Mr Thieme.
It was delivered to a Chinese mainland company.
He said: ''These latest orders, our first to Shanghai, will be used to ferry passengers on the Yangtze River.'' The first order is scheduled for delivery by Chinese New Year 1994 and the second by May 1994.
