Worldwide Ferry Safety Association takes a look at global ferry safety

What’s exciting about the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association’s third annual Ferry Safety & Technology Conference is that it will explore new high quality ferry operations in Asia, Africa and New York City. The event, which will take place at Pier A Harbour House in New York on 11-12 May, will also showcase applications for transformative new technologies.

Sessions focused on Africa’s ferry industry will give attendees the chance to learn in depth about the Ivory Coast Société de Transport Lagunaire’s new ferry system for Abidjan, which is being built by Damen Shipyards. The shipyard’s product director Henk Grunstra will discuss how it is building 16 ferries and four floating landings. The Ivory Coast public-private partnership is illustrative of other Africa initiatives. Sierra Leone’s new private ferry service now makes it safe for passengers to travel between Freeport and the airport. Incat has ambitious plans to work with partners to develop a passenger and freight maritime service along the sub-Saharan Africa coast.

Asia-focused presentations will explore India’s major new undertaking for the 1,620-mile Ganges River ferry system with 18 new landings and 10 new LNG ferries. In addition, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala provinces all have new ferry systems – the latter has initiated the first of a solar-powered fleet.

Meanwhile, two executives from Philippines-based Archipelago Ferries will join with Murray Goldberg from Marine LMS to demonstrate the new tablet-based e-learning crew training course they developed together. They will also talk about Archipelago Ferries’ current 60-vessel acquisition initiative.

Farn Sritairatana, executive director of Chao Phraya Express Boat Company, will present about the line’s major fleet upgrades plans. Sritairatana will also cover how its operations are increasingly integrated with multimodal transport options, and tourist and shopping opportunities. He will also present the awards for the 4th International Student Design Competition.

Attendees will also experience elements of New York City’s new Citywide Ferry System. NYC Economic Development Corporation and Hornblower Marine System officials will give a technical tour and discuss the 6 routes, 21 landings, and 19 new vessels.

All these ferry operators will need access to accurate, timely weather information, training programs, appropriate technology, finance and insurance. The Ferry Safety & Technology Conference is very proud to showcase a lot of firsts in that regard. With respect to training, as noted, Archipelago Ferries will present its tablet-based system that allows crew to take 20-30-minute course segments at their leisure and at their own pace. The system assures that crew competency is tracked and managed.

With respect to technology, telematics solutions providers will also attend the conference again this year. Fike will present its technology that enables early detection and alerts of smoke and fire. A solution that is completely new and only available in beta will also be showcased – Google Glass Nav. The solution will bring data from electronic charts to wearable immersive augmented reality glasses that also show the real environment. This will untether ship masters from the bridge and allow them to fully understand the navigational environment. A very exciting possibility to be discussed in the technology panel is digital insurance – can telematics make the costs of insurance more precise by assisting control and transparency? John Miklus, president of American Institute of Marine Underwriters, will discuss pros and cons.

Weather has been implicated as the cause of over half of fatal ferry accidents. The conference presents the information on the new advanced NOAA satellite weather information – with very high resolution and very frequent updates. Delegates will also hear about the potential for obtaining fine-scale hyperlocal weather information through ferry route weather monitoring using technology at less than a tenth the standard price, and readily repairable.

Communication is key. Vesseltracker provides customisable AIS harbor information – free to those companies that supply land for the antenna. And Broadband capability on the water is vastly enhanced by a fluid mesh network. Setup and applications will be presented by the vendor and its NY Waterway client.

The conference venue is friendly and relaxed. Breakfast, lunch, breaks and an outdoor reception overlooking the harbor offer ample opportunities for networking.

 Roberta Weisbrod is the executive director of the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association