Background
The ship travels at a top speed of 40 miles per hour (34 knots) and makes the 68 nautical mile trip three times daily from each side of the lake during the peak of its operational schedule. Lake Express is able to cross the lake in two and a half hours. It was constructed by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, and began service on June 1, 2004. It was one of the first high-speed catamaran-style auto/passenger ferries built in the United States. It was also the first high-speed car ferry to see service on the Great Lakes, beating out the Spirit of Ontario I, which was beset by a series of last-minute delays, by one month.
On August 21, 2005, the ferry rescued a man whose boat had capsized in the middle of Lake Michigan.
Read more about this topic: HSC Lake Express
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