Russian-made Hydrofoil Still in Service Between Vienna & Bratislava

The made for TV movie I Spy Returns (1994) is set mainly in Vienna, Austria. In the movie, a Russian couple come to Vienna from Hungary in a hydrofoil with the markings "SPD-METEOR V-BRATISLAVA." (See photo.) This imprint identifies it as the Russian-made hydrofoil that is owned by a Slovakian shipping company, The Slovak Danube Navigation Company (SPD). This vessel is now operating under SPaP-LOD. See website: http://www.lod.sk

The Meteor is considered a hydrofoil with a radical design. It has global significance because it is used in many countries around
the world. For example, there is

• Meteor service between St. Petersburg, Russia and the Peterhof, a summer palace of Russian tsars.
• Meteor service between St. Petersburg, Russia and the Kronstadt, a strongly fortified Russian seaport town, located on Kotlin Island, near the head of the Gulf of Finland.
  
• Meteor hydrofoils operate all over Volga, Don and Kama Rivers in Russia.
  
• Meteor hydrofoils are operated by a number of tour operators in Croatia, mostly for packaged tours, but there are also some scheduled services to islands in Adriatic.(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofoil)
• This Meteor hydrofoil runs the Yangtze River in China:
  
  
  (Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:YangtzeMeteor.jpg)

The LOD website includes descriptions, dimensions, and photos of the Meteor hydrofoils in their fleet: See: http://www.lod.sk/en/Default.aspx?CatID=23 and http://www.lod.sk/en/Documents/METEOR_PS.pdf

For schedules, prices and reservation information for 2010 Meteor hydrofoil cruises between Vienna and Bratislava, see: http://www.lod.sk/en/Default.aspx?CatID=39

CLICK HERE for the 2010 information brochure for sightseeing cruises on the Meteor hydrofoil.

For historical information about Meteor V-Bratislava, see: http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-240234-Meteor+V.+Bratislava

For more information about the "Globalization themes in the TV-movie I Spy Returns (1994)," see: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Global_Issues:_Austria_%26_Czech_Republic

Map to Vienna Departure point for Cruise to Bratislava:

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