MS Sleipner was a Norwegian high-speed catamaran ferry built in 1999 for the HSD Sjø company by Austal Ships of Australia. Constructed largely of aluminium, she was 42 metres (138 ft) long, 12.5 metres (41 ft) wide, and certified for 358 passengers.On 26 November 1999, only three months after being commissioned, during bad weather, Sleipner collided with a rock in the notorious part of the North Sea called "Sletta", just north of the town of Haugesund.