The Minister of Transport announced the names of the two new Sea Express foil-catamaran ferries on Friday at a ceremony in City Hall.

The new boats will be called and , Dr. Ewart Brown said.

The names were entered in a contest to name the new ferries by Kimberley Barnes and Sonia Lambert respectively.

Over 3,400 individual entry forms were received in the competition from which 30 finalists were selected, and the winners were then randomly drawn.

All 30 finalists received a one-month transportation pass, which is valid until August 2004, and the grand prize winners received round trip tickets for two to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and a Caribbean cruise, which was courtesy of C Travel, US Airways and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.

Ms Lambert said she chose the name because of its historical importance to the Island. was the name of the man believed to be the first black man ever to arrive on the Island.

The man was travelling on a Spanish ship that was stuck on the reefs, and he was sent to investigate noises that the Spaniards thought were devils.

He came ashore and discovered that the noises were coming from the endemic Cahows.

She said she thought the name would provide a suitable balance in relation to the Sea Venture, which also bought settlers to the Island.

The other winner, Ms Barnes said that she chose because most of the ferries have names, which imply strength.

?I originally chose the and the Fury because I thought the names connotated power and strength,? said Ms Barnes.

?I was surprised that I won and I didn?t expect it because the names were being drawn.

?The name also came from Shakespeare?s play ?Tempest?, which was based on a hurricane and the strength of a hurricane.

?I hope they are strong as they are supposed to get you there no matter what.?

Work has already begun on the two ferries Tasmania.

The hulls of both boats have been constructed and are being plated with aluminium.

The first four engines, which are being manufactured in Detroit, were to arrive in Tasmania for fitting last week.

?The new ferry boats are custom designed to compliment sister boats and Dr. Brown added.

?Both will be 76-feet long, 27-feet wide and will seat 177 passengers, with a total capacity of 200.

?They will be capable of operating at a speed of 32 knots.?

The boats are scheduled for delivery to Bermuda in late Spring 2004.