BRIX Marine delivers offshore passenger catamaran to St. Lucia ferry operator

BRIX Marine delivered It’s About Time to FunToSee Island Ferry in Castries, St. Lucia, and the second build for the operator looks built for work, not window dressing. The 55-foot, 6-inch PaxCat carries an 18-foot beam, is certified under USCG Subchapter T, and was set up for airport ferry duty with a main cabin that seats 35 passengers, fixed Corian-topped tables for up to 14 more, and a concession area.

The propulsion package matches that job. BRIX fitted the catamaran with four Yamaha 450HP XTO offshore outboards mounted on custom tandem offshore brackets, a setup meant to keep an offshore passenger boat moving efficiently and with the redundancy operators want on a busy island route. The upper deck adds a custom multi-panel Stamoid enclosure with roll-up Strataglass windows, so the boat can switch between open-air sightseeing and a more sheltered ride across Caribbean water.

Safety and passenger handling were treated like commercial essentials, not add-ons. The boat carries life floats rated for 52 persons total, an EPIRB, Type 1 life preservers, Fireboy fire suppression, and carbon monoxide and smoke detection. That kind of fit-out matters on a route that connects Hewanorra Airport with resorts and public docks around the island, including Soufriere, Marigot, Castries and Rodney Bay, where reliability and boarding flow matter as much as speed.

FunToSee Island describes itself as St. Lucia’s first and only water ferry and airport transfer service, with trips that typically run 90 minutes to 2 hours. The company includes ground transfers between the airport, ferry and resorts, along with complimentary wine, beer, champagne, mimosas, soft drinks and light snacks, and it sells a Fast Track airport concierge option for $50 per person. Earlier marketing framed the service as more than transport, but the boat now underlines the practical side of that pitch: a ferry has to carry people, weather the sea state, and keep the schedule.

Charlie Crane, BRIX sales and marketing director, put the repeat order plainly: “Building a second vessel for FunToSee Island speaks for itself.” For operators working Caribbean airport runs, that is exactly what a multihull buys, a stable, efficient passenger platform that can do the commute and the seaway without pretending to be a private yacht.