The 2000-built trimaran RV Triton sailed into Portland harbour in midJuly from Hull, where she had been laid up, towed by the tug DMS Condor. She was built in 2000 by British builder Vosper Thornycroft as a technology demonstrator ship for the Royal Navy’s Future Surface Combatant, and was used to both prove the viability of the hullform and as a trials platform for other QinetiQ innovations. Triton undertook the first helicopter take off and landing on a trimaran.
The experimental trimaran Triton arriving in Portland on 14 July. The tug DMS Condor assisted her to the berth.
PAUL DALLAWAY
Triton spent over 15 years in service as a prototype demonstrator in the UK and later as a customs border protection vessel with the Australian Customs and Border Patrols. In January 2005, Triton was sold to Gardline Marine Sciences, a UK company based in Great Yarmouth, and was used for hydrographic survey work for the civil hydrography programme (CHP) on behalf of the MCA. She was moored in the River Fal near the King Harry chain ferry for some time, and up until July 2019 was moored at Great Yarmouth.