By
Rebecca Gibson |
Interferry has confirmed a global line up CEOs at its 38th annual conference, which takes place in Malta from 5-9 October.
In a change from previous years, Interferry will be reducing the number of presentations and instead focusing on panel debates, which will be covering the critical issues and opportunities for both large and small operators.
Keynote, Christian Breinholt, deputy director-general of the Danish Maritime Authority and chairman of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Maritime Safety Committee, will address the need for efficient cooperation between regulators and the industry. He said: “Each side has its own specific role to play but there is an overlapping responsibility in optimising the shared regulatory framework and ensuring correct compliance,” said “The key to satisfying all stakeholders is timely effort and contributions backed up by sufficient evidence, experience and knowledge.”
New safety regulations will be discussed by a panel of operators including John Garner, fleet director of UK-based P&O Ferries; Jan Helge Pile, senior vice president of marine and technical at Color Line; Brice Robinson, head of newbuildings at Brittany Ferries and chairman of Interferry’s ship damage stability taskforce; and Johan Roos, Interferry executive director of European Union and IMO affairs.
Scandlines’s investigation into a combined batteries and scrubbers solution will be discussed, along with a recent Stena roro report on using methanol fuel, the impact of a new performance-enhancing bow form developed by Rolls-Royce and a study by the Green Ship of the Future partnership
Guest speaker and former airline pilot Jarle Gimmestad will highlight how the aviation industry’s safety practices by recognising and reducing danger caused by human error.
In addition, Dracos Vassalos, professor of maritime safety and director of the ship safety research centre at the UK’s Strathclyde University, will highlight the dangers of certain practices during operation, a ‘box ticking’ approach to the ISM and lack of preparedness for emergencies. Vassalos will also explain how goal-based regulations would help designers and manufacturers to improve the stability of ropax vessels in the event of damage.
Leigh McCue-Weil, an associate professor at Virginia Tech in the US, will demonstrate two mobile technology applications relating to small craft motion and vessel drills, which could be adapted for ferry use.
Zanzibar-based journalist Rachel Hamada will also.promote the ‘Usizame – Do Not Drown’ mobile phone check-in system, which monitors passenger numbers and also provides data on vessel condition, suitability for the route and expected weather. The project was developed in response to two recent ferry disasters off the coast of Tanzania.
The Worldwide Ferry Safety Association will also announce the winner of an international student competition to design safe, affordable ferries.