Seen and ridden on in Rotterdam on Wednesday was this amazing creation. We are all familiar with World War II DUKW amphibious landing craft and their subsequent imitations doing road and water tours in various tourist destinations, but this is a purpose built vehicle that looks more like a bus than a boat. The vehicle, BZ-HJ-83, was built by DAT (Dutch Amphibious Transport) in Nijmegen around 2010 and is one of two operated by Splashtours. A round trip takes you on a ride over the iconic Erasmus Bridge linking "old" and "new" Rotterdam. It then takes to the water down a ramp, the engine then swapping from driving the rear axle to spinning the twin rotors at the rear. Readers may recall Stagecoach trialled a DAT Amfibus as a replacement for the Renfrew Ferry on the River Clyde. The bus, which has more than a passing resemblance to contemporary New Zealand's Designline products is based on a modified Volvo chassis and this one seats 43 passengers, but 55 are possible. On land it can reach nearly 100 kph, but a more modest 12 on water! The inserts show a bus taking a splash and one of it chugging along the Rotterdam waterfront. It does ride quite law in the water.
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