Three catamaran-type ships transferred from civilian service have entered service with the Turkish Navy as transport ships. The Navy identifies them as “sea bus”. The ships have been named TCG Muğla, Gazimağusa, and TCG Mersin. The Turkish Navy’s new transport ships were formerly operated as passenger vessels under İDO of İstanbul. İDO, or Istanbul Sea Buses, is a foundation of the Municipality of Istanbul to reduce traffic on the road with high-capacity passenger ships cruising in the Marmara Sea.
Turkish Navy has not declared these ships’ hull numbers. The catamaran ships cruise at 15 knots with a range of 222 km and have a max speed of 32 knots. While the range isn’t very long, the sheer passenger capacity of 400 people might be why the service opted for acquisition. It should be noted that this capacity will decrease with changes in the internal layout. Nevertheless, the ships have a high capacity compared to their displacement of 119 tonnes.
Due to their service history, the ships are likely to be used as personnel transport.
The high capacity of the ships can be mainly attributed to catamaran design. Catamarans and other multi-hull ships offer greater space and balance against head-on waves than mono-hull designs. As a purpose-built example of a military catamaran transport, the U.S. Navy operates a larger transport catamaran, Spearhead-class, built by Austal. The 1500+ tonnes ship powered by water jets can reach a speed of 43 knots and carry 312 troopers.
