Ferry Industry Facts

What is a Ferry?

• A ferry is a vessel used to transport passengers and/or vehicles across a body of water on a regular, frequent basis. Ferries can range from small boats carrying passengers across a harbour or river in an urban setting, to large sea-going ships carrying passengers, cars, trucks and other heavy cargo across longer distances where overnight sleeping accommodations are required.
• Generally not included in the definition of “Ferries” are the following:
• Vessels that do not operate on a regular schedule
• Vessels that normally carry cargo but that may occasionally carry passengers and/or vehicles.
• Vessels that operate on routes greater than 48 hours in duration.
• Vessels whose main purpose is not the transport of passengers/vehicles from point A to point B, e.g a cruise ship.

How Big is the Ferry Industry

There are approximately 1,300 ferries over 1,000 GRT (gross registered tons) and thousands of smaller ferries. In addition there are approximately 1,800 fast ferries (ferries with speeds of at least 25 knots).
The global ferry industry transports approximately 2.1 billion passengers per year plus 250 million vehicles and 32 million trailers. By way of comparison, the commercial airline industry carries 2.3 billion passengers per year.

Ferry Regulations

The ferry industry, like the shipping industry in general, is heavily regulated in terms of safety, environmental impact and security. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the United Nations body responsible for establishing regulations for international shipping. Ships that operate solely within the confines of one nation are regulated by that nation. However, many countries base their domestic regulations on the IMO standards. Some nations adopt the IMO rules completely for their domestic ships.
Shipping regulations generally cover vessel design, construction, repair, operations, manning, training, environmental impact, security and regular inspections throughout a vessel’s life. Inspections include stability, hulls, propulsion and other machinery, electrical systems, lifesaving appliances and arrangements, fire prevention and firefighting systems, navigation systems and communications systems.

Ferry Safety

A system of comprehensive and practical regulations together with effective enforcement has resulted in ferry transport being one of the safest modes of transport in most parts of the world. However, accidents do happen and a critical part of a safety system is to ensure that the lessons of accidents are well documented and disseminated. This requires thorough procedures for accident investigation. The lessons need to be communicated to both operators and regulators so that prevention and response can be continuously improved.
There are parts of the world, particularly Asia and Africa, where ferry safety needs dramatic improvement. Countries like Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines have huge populations that depend on ferries as one of the primary modes of transport. Sometimes developing countries have adequate regulations but they are lacking in the ability to effectively enforce them. Often they also lack the ability to thoroughly investigate accidents and learn from them.
IMO and Interferry have formed a partnership to work with developing countries who seek assistance to help them improve their level of ferry safety and save lives.