1. A Maritime Nation: Ferry Safety Worldwide
By Ralph Duncan
1
Unless you have sequestered yourself for the last few years and isolated yourself from all news media,
you most likely have at least, in passing, heard of the many ferry accidents that have occurred around
the world. Recently, the South Korean Ferry Sewol has been the primary topic of conversation, along
with Greece. These and many others continue to concern all of us that work in the ferry industry.
Personally, I ruminate about this daily, primarily due to the fact that I have been requested to provide
advice to a ferry startup in an economically developing country.
To put the topic of ferry safety in perspective, let's look at some data collected by the World Ferry Safety
Organization on the number of accidents occurring between 2000 and 2012. Here is the data for the
three countries with the worst history of ferry accidents.
Country # Accidents Dead or Missing
Bangladesh 37 4426
Indonesia 25 1668
Philippines 14 1336
In fact, according to Dr. Roberta Weisbrod, Executive Director of the World Ferry Safety Organization, it
is estimated that between 800 and 1000 people die in ferry accidents every year. In the US, we have a
2. A Maritime Nation: Ferry Safety Worldwide
By Ralph Duncan
2
very safe passenger ferry industry with really only one, somewhat recent, serious accident; the Lake
George ferry accident that took twelve lives. Noting this, I can't help but interject that in the US we have
very few ferry routes that subject our vessel to conditions comparable to those seen on a regular basis,
say, in Papua New Guinea and the rest of Oceana.
In context to road accidents and annual passenger numbers, here is another perspective.
Road fatalities in US: 40,000 annually
Road Fatal. In Bangladesh 4,000 annually
Ferry fatalities in US Virtually nil
Ferry fatalities in Bangladesh >1000 annually
Annual # of pass. in US 200M
Annual # of pass.in Bangladesh 40M
Source: Lawson and Weisbrod: "Ferry Transport: The Realm of Responsibility for Ferry Disasters in Developing Nations." Journal
of Public Transportation. 2005
This month I was able to attend the first annual Ferry Safety and Technology Conference held in New
York City and sponsored by the World Ferry Safety Conference and Interferry.
World Ferry Safety Association
The Worldwide Ferry Safety Association is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing innovation
in training methods, as well as use of technology to provide notification for sudden hazardous weather,
curb overloading, and enhance marine rescue technology.
Interferry
Interferry represents the ferry industry regarding regulatory matters and has attained Consultative
Status at the International Maritime Organization and Observer Status at the European Community
Shipowners Association.
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
Although not a sponsor of the Conference, the IMO was established "to provide machinery for
cooperation among Governments in the field of governmental regulation and practices relating to
technical matters of all kinds affecting shipping engaged in international trade; to encourage and
facilitate the general adoption of the highest practicable standards in matters concerning maritime
safety, efficiency of navigation and prevention and control of marine pollution from ships." It is with this
organization that both the World Ferry Safety Association and Interferry work very closely as advisors.
3. A Maritime Nation: Ferry Safety Worldwide
By Ralph Duncan
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The Conference brought together key players in the ferry industry from around the world. Delegates
travelled from distance places such as Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong , Finland and Denmark. Held at
the Alexander Hamilton U.S Customs House, it brought together ferry operators, owners, naval
architects and marine engineers to discuss and share innovative solutions to improve ferry safety and
efficiency worldwide, with the main goals of:
-Improving Safety Culture
-Improving Vessel Culture
-Making weather information accessible
-Training
-Improving vessel quality
These topics were explored and shared over four different discussion panels.
Vessel Design and Construction:
Stability of a vessel dominated the conversation in particular as it pertains to examining all failure modes
such as dynamic intact stability, dead ship condition and parametric roll. Typically these are not a
standard design focus in ferry design. In addition, there were very good discussions about cross-
flooding considerations, cargo stowage and separation of main engines into two compartments. Finally,
in relation to stability, it was suggested that one condition that should be designed for is the "safe return
to port compliant vessel."
Aging Vessels :
Although I discussed this topic with several delegates, I had a wonderful opportunity to discuss it with
Capt. Nurmur Rahman of the National Maritime Safety Authority of Papua New Guinea. Acknowledging
that most developing countries with low budgets, purchase used vessels to press into service, there are
three main concerns here; 1) The material condition of the vessel itself, 2) non-engineered
modifications to the vessel which render it unsafe and 3) the lack of understanding of the design criteria
to which the vessel was designed in the first place (bays and harbors, lakes, etc.).
E-Training :
A subject that drew a smaller panel, but, no less discussion. Numerous suggestions were made on how
to improve training. The topic was capped off by a tour and demonstration of the Bridge Simulator
operated by the Staten Island Ferry System. It was great to see the latest technology in training and to
learn that Staten Island Ferries offers training to other local state and city operators, most notably
NYFD.
As this panel closed out, I was left with a primary conclusion, or, perhaps more correctly a question.
Many accidents in developing countries are due to overcrowding. I believe this is not only a result of a
lack of enforcement, but, perhaps also a lack of understanding of the consequences of overloading on
the part of passengers leading to improper weight distribution and an overweight load. Is there a way to
provide this indoctrination as passengers board the ferry or before? Will an appreciation of the
consequences help in reducing the overloading?
4. A Maritime Nation: Ferry Safety Worldwide
By Ralph Duncan
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Developing a Safety Culture :
In my mind, this panel was summed up nicely in the presentation by Mr. Greg Dronkert, President of
HMS Ferries. He highlighted, very transparently I might add, a case study from his own company. A
grounding of a vessel in the northwest, this seemed to serve as his springboard to creating a culture in
his organization and develop some specific factors in establishing a safety culture in an organization.
The most important factor? Leadership. Of course, not surprising to most, this is something that is
talked about often but not really practiced. Greg made the point that a leader follows the rules he/she
sets down and does not exempt himself/herself from the requirements.
Some Final Thoughts
Accidents are generally not caused by a single factor, but, by a coincidental occurrence of more than one
event taking place. For example, the loss of stability due to overcrowding and high stowage of cargo
combined with bad weather and rough seas and wind. Or, substandard vessels; those vessels illegally
modified, thereby compromising vessel stability. Also, older vessels in poor material condition, and
used vessels not designed for the new route or environmental conditions.
Around the world vessel designers, consultants to ferry startups and regulatory agencies cannot neglect
the aptly studied and well documented factors that are encountered by ferries and ferry operators
around the world.
Weather- For example, Bangladesh has some of the worst weather in the world. This is coupled with
the fact that the largest of nearly seven hundred rivers of Bangladesh serve as the principal arteries of
commercial transportation.
Overcrowding- Greed, combined with fare caps, prevent fare increases to cover costs. This drives
operators to increase revenue by allowing more passengers onboard than are permitted by regulation.
Stowage of Cargo: Cargo stowed on deck can create a top heavy situation, compromises stability which
is particularly dangerous in rough weather. Cargo not properly stowed that is allowed to move with
vessel motion as well as large amounts of liquid cargo will create deleterious condition of stability as
well.
Finally, many of the "technical" issues of vessel safety actually stem from other indirect forces, such as:
lack of regulatory control, piracy, culture and lack of true appreciation of consequences, poverty
(survival need to "get to market" ignoring risk), lack of local vessel design standards and lack of any
operational controls.
