World Ferry Safety Association News

Our annual Ferry and Passenger Vessel edition kicks off the New Year in high gear, even if oil prices aren’t necessarily following suit. As vessel operators – our ferry drivers included – celebrate lower bunker prices, another maritime subset frets over what might happen to the offshore service market if the downturn in crude oil prices continues unabated for a significant length of time. That said; if your market focus is ferries and/or passenger vessels, then you won’t find another more comprehensive or diverse look at this sector than that which is depicted in the pages that follow. It turns out that the passenger vessel and ferry industry is a forward-thinking, innovative and problem solving group of businesses.

The World Ferry Safety Association (WFSA) has announced the results of its Second Annual international student design competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry. The goal of the design competition is to elicit new approaches for ferry design in the developing world as well as to encourage designers to enter this arena for which there is a need and a developing market. Ms. Roberta Weisbrod, WFSA’s Executive Director, said: “The Sewol disaster reminds us that these are all our children. The top prize of $5,000 is to be awarded to the student team from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, which designed a double-hulled vessel using such standard and affordable features as mild (low carbon…

Marine Engineering and naval architecture students provide a fresh perspective on design, safety and innovation, too. When most of us board a passenger ferry, thinking about the safety and stability of the vessel will rarely cross our minds. Typically, those thoughts are obscured by other “more important” things, along with the distractions of electronic devices that keep us so pre-occupied that we even tune out the essential safety briefing that occurs during departure. While the record of U.S.

The World Ferry Safety Association (WFSA) announced the coming year’s challenging international student design competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry. The goal of the design competition is to elicit new approaches for ferry design in the developing world as well as to encourage designers to enter this arena for which there is a need and an emerging market. Last year $10,000 in prizes was awarded, with the top prizes of $5,000 and $3,000 awarded at the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Annual Meeting to the student teams from the University of British Columbia, Canada and the Tolani Maritime Institute in Pune, India respectively. The results of the competition were reported widely in the maritime professional media.

Today the results of the World Ferry Safety Association international student design competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry were announced. The goal of the design competition is to elicit new approaches for ferry design in the developing world as well as to encourage designers to enter this arena, for which there is a need and an emerging market. An announcement of the winners, chosen by an esteemed team of judges (see below), and a recognition of all participants, will take place at the Annual Meeting of Interferry, in Malta, on October 7. Following the submissions, Dr.