WFSA Ferry Design Competition: University Team Wins

The World Ferry Safety Association (WFSA) has announced the results of its Second Annual international student design competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry. The top prize of $5,000 is to be awarded to the student team from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, details as follows:

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. Their deaths were preventable and we must redouble our efforts to prevent them with stable vessels and safe operations.”

The award will be presented at the Awards Luncheon at the 2014 SNAME Maritime Convention on Friday, October 24 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston, Texas

The winning team
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, readily wieldable) steel, standard components, and a chined hull (how the bottom is attached to the sides) all of which allows for simplified construction.

Diesel electric propulsion while expensive to acquire is cost effective in terms of fuel and maintenance savings.

The team was lead by Edward Moakler with Logan Miller, Nicholas Boyd, Luke Hancox, Bethany Randall, and Aron Ng. Heather Peng is the faculty advisor.

About the design criteria
The Terms of Reference called for a ferry with a capacity of 200 passengers and able to transport truck freight from Lae and Kavieng in Papua New Guinea (with several intermediate stops), a distance of 350 nautical miles. This design would be applicable for a number of other inter-island oceangoing ferries throughout the South-west Pacific region.

The team of judges
The WFSA Design Competition had an exceptional team of judges: Alfred Baird, Charles Cushing, Joe Hudspeth, Fakhrul Islam, and Nurur Rahman.

About the WFSA
The Worldwide Ferry Safety Association is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit corporation dedicated to improving ferry safety in developing nations by improving vessel design and
operations.

More information at: www.ferrysafety.org