Surface Effect Ship - Hovermarine SES Ferries

Hovermarine SES Ferries

The UK based company Hovermarine developed the HM.2 SES ferry at their factory in Woolston, Southampton in the 1960s. The first HM-2 craft was operated by Seaspeed in 1968 between Ryde Pier and Portsmouth Harbour. The early HM2 suffered from mechanical problems and during a financial crisis in 1969, Hovermarine went into voluntary liquidation and the major assets were acquired by a new company, Hovermarine Transport Ltd, this was subsequently taken over by the American company, Transportation Technology Inc. Production of HM.2s for North and Central America was undertaken by Hovermarine's factory at Titusville, Florida. Over 110 HM.2's were manufactured in the UK and US