Griffon Hoverwork sends hovercraft to Japan

Griffon Hoverwork is celebrating the culmination of two years’ of hard work, as its new 12000TD hovercraft has successfully completed UK sea trials and is now on its way to Japan.

Griffon’s latest hovercraft, Baien, is one of three commissioned by Oita Prefecture in Japan as part of a £25 million contract drawn up in 2021. The hovercraft will reestablish a passenger service between Oita Airport and Oita City, with all three craft scheduled for delivery by January 2024.

The project ranks among Griffon Hoverwork’s largest contracts to date.

“These trials [were] important because while Griffon already provides a 12000TD for the Hovertravel service between Southsea in Portsmouth and Ryde on the Isle of Wight, they’ve had to make a few key adjustments for their Japanese customers,” Griffon’s chief pilot Ben Avery told invest Portsmouth.

“The craft is 25m long – two metres longer than the standard 12000TD,” adds Avery. “That extra two metres has been added to give more space inside the cabin, which allows for the Japanese barrier-free access requirements. Because we’ve made the craft a bit longer, we’ve had to look at ways of weight-saving. One of the ways we’ve done that is by taking weight out of the propeller ducts in the manufacturing process. The steering system is now also a lot more efficient.”

Also crucial to Baien’s future application is the ‘puff port’ installed at the front of the craft, which pilots can use to bleed off pressure.

“It’s for very fine manoeuvring, and our customer in Japan has quite a tight space in their boathouse, so it will be used to help them park the craft,” says Avery.

“Overseas clients continue to come to Griffon for the quality that we deliver,” says Adrian Went, MD at Griffon. “The project has provided opportunities across a range of roles in our business, from graduate engineers, through to supply chain activity, to the complete range of marine workshop skills.”

With the first craft on its way to Japan, work continues on the second and third craft for the Oita Prefecture Government. Fischer Panda UK’s range of generators and air conditioning systems from Dometic were selected for the project.