A hovercraft is a vehicle which can move on land, water, marshy places, snow etc. Actually it travels nearly two meters above the surface.

Although it can travel over any surface, its use is limited to water only. After traveling on sea water, it can travel right on to the beach. It does not require any special docking or deep ports to land. It can land on beach or ramp.

The hovercraft can be called an aircraft on water. It has large fans to create a cushion of air beneath it and air held by a flexible skirt made of rubber around the bottom of the craft. The hovercraft glides along on this air cushion. It is supported off the ground by this air cushion.

The great advantage of hovercraft over conventional boats is that there is no drag or friction caused by a hull moving though the water. As a result, it can move with speed as fast as 150 kilometers per hour.

Hovercrafts carry passengers and goods between ports. They are used throughout the world as specialized transports. They can also be used after a natural disaster for emergency purposes. Small hovercrafts are used for sport or passenger service, while giant hovercrafts have civilian and military applications, and are used to transport cars, tanks, and large equipment in hostile environments and terrain.

The hovercraft was invented by Sir Christopher Cockrell, an English boat designer in 1955. The first hovercraft SRN 1 weighing 4 tons was tried at Cowes on England in 1959. People at first could not believe when the vehicle travelled over the surface of water and then came on to the land.

Since then, many modifications have been made on the hovercraft. The first public transport on hovercraft was made in July 1962 by V.A.3 across Dee Estuary. It had a capacity of 24 passengers and speed of 110 kilometers per hour.

The biggest hovercraft of the world is SR.N4. It is plying across the English Channel. It can carry four hundred passengers and 60 cars.

The British Hovercraft Society is planning for 500 ton hovercraft that can carry up to seven hundred passengers and 80 cars.

The Indian Coast Guard has deployed hovercraft at Paradip to enhance its security and surveillance capabilities along the Orissa coast. It is most suited for shallow water patrolling, which is needed for protecting the Olive Ridley sea turtle nesting beaches, especially Gahirmatha coast, which is the world’s largest rookery.

Two hovercrafts were recently commissioned for Coast Guard in Tamil Nadu. The hovercrafts which can cruise at a maximum speed of 90 km per hour in the waters will be helpful for effective shallow water patrol. Assembled at Garden Reach Workshop in Kolkata, each hovercraft costs about Rs 9 crore.