94 COMMENTARY Photo: Finnlines How the ferry grew up Ro-pax ferries are bigger than ever, but how did the industry manage to increase their scale, while ensuring they can still safely navigate narrow harbours and operate in all weathers? While sailing onboard Townsend Thorensen’s former ferry Free Enterprise II between Dover, England, and Zeebrugge, Belgium, in 1967, I watched impressed as the master of the ferry span the vessel around within the tight confines of the harbour and backed, at what felt like astonishing speed, into the narrow jaws of the berth. To me, a deep-sea seaman onboard to enquire about a temporary second mate role, the 110-metre-long, 3,000gt ferry seemed big and powerful, and therefore unlikely to fit into the berth. However, the ferry master played the controls like a musical instrument, giving clear and concise orders from the helm, while allowing for a vicious cross wind and remaining alert to the diminishing distance between the vessel and the linkspan, which was called over the bridge loudspeaker by the second mate down aft. Even though he was performing this task several times a day, it was nonetheless impressive as he had just a single rudder and two engines to help him, and operated in an infinite variety of weather conditions. Almost 60 years later, ferry lines operate vessels of over 40,000gt on that same route, navigating the challenging waters and berthing in the same ports. However, today’s large vessels can operate in weather conditions that would have seen their smaller predecessors cancelling their sailings. On Baltic routes, for example, there are vessels of nearly 70,000gt and 235 metres in length being handled with precision in MICHAEL GREY Michael Grey is a master mariner turned maritime journalist and has edited both Fairplay and Lloyd’s List in a career spanning more than 60 years. Large ferries over 235 metres long, such as Finnlines’ Finncanopus, can be handled with precision, even in extreme winter weather
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