She was built by FB Marine on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom at a cost of £2.73 million and entered service in 1998.

[1][2] The ship reached a speed of 37.4 knots (69.3 km/h; 43.0 mph) during a publicity cruise on 14 July 1998 before entering into regular service on 27 July 1998.

[1] This entry into service meant that the older Shearwater 5 and Shearwater 6 hydrofoils were no longer needed to provide backup for the Red Funnel high speed service and they were withdrawn.

[2] In March 2019, Red Jet 3 was sold to Adriatic Fast Ferries, a ferry company operating in Split, Croatia.

[3] Red Jet 3 entered service with Adriatic later in the year,[4] where it now operates under the name Adriatic Express.