Újpest, harbor on the Danube bank - Budapest, Hungary

Location:

GPS coordinates: Latitude 47°33'41", Longitude 19°4'35" (N47 33.68 - E19 4.58) Map

Two passenger hydrofoil boats, the "Quicksilver" and the "Vöcsök IV" in the dry dock

The "Quicksilver" is the fastest hydrofoil boat in the fleet of the MAHART Hungarian Shipping Co. ("Magyar Hajózási Részvénytársaság"). This is a Soviet-built Lastochka model, 31 meters long and it was constructed in 1986, its cruising speed is about 75-85 km/h. Nevertheless, with its two Zvezda M470 turbo diesel engines which were designed originally for tanks and have the total power of 2700 horsepowers its maximum speed reaches 100 km/h, therefore it is one of the fastest boats on the Danube River. It can carry a maximum of 68 persons and with it the Budapest-Vienna distance takes about 4.5 hours. However in return there is a 500 liters per hour fuel consumption. This boat is in Hungary since 2009, in the MAHART PassNave ("passenger navigation") hydrofoil boat fleet this is exactly the tenth newcomer.

Although the "Vöcsök IV" hidrofoil riverboat is one year younger than the "Quicksilver", it has just one engine with "only" 1100 horsepowers. This is also Soviet-made, a Voskhod-2 model of the Ukrainian "Morje" shipyard. It is on the Danube under the flag of Hungary since it was constructed in 1987.