Seventh Annual International Maritime Hall of Fame Awards
Harbor Safety Committee Recap 2000
Harbor Safety Committee Recap 1999
Third Annual High Speed Ferry Conference
Maritime
Association of the Port of
New York and New Jersey
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Third Annual High Speed Ferry NE Conference
Review Windows on the World, World Trade Center, New York City,
April 8, 1999 Private and Public Development of High Speed Craft Underway for Next Century Alan Olmsted, Director, Private Ferry Operations, New York City, moderated the one day High Speed Ferry NE Conference and Trade Show. His opening introduction of Robert Grotell, Director of Transportation, New York City Mayor's Office, set the stage for Olmstead's recognition that traffic is shifting to the waterways. More specifically, New York City is expanding its role as a center of the high speed ferry. "Today there are more high speed craft in and around New York City than in prior years. The renaissance of ferries linking the region has increased every year since 1986," said Olmsted. Short and middle distance routes are popular now. A number of
projects in private and public development are underway for the
next century, including public dollars for the Whitehall Tunnel
and the St. George Tunnel. A new Pier 11 is under construction
including a new terminal, coffee shop, public art space, garden
and pickup on South Street for taxis and buses. Other projects
include entry into the Hudson River and into midway Manhattan,
a ferry terminal on 34th Street, permanent facilities on East
62nd Street, East 75th Street and East 90th Street. A formal assessment developed by the IMO compares risks with risk criteria to determine what is expected from high speed craft in relation to accidents. Risks, costs and options should be part of the decision-making for safety. The Maritime Coast Guard Agency-UK Maritime Administration chose high speed ferries for the safety assessment because of the new technologies being introduced worldwide.IMO did not consider environmental, business or property risks. Collision was noted as a priority - high speed craft are in confined waters. Fire risk is significant. There is a degree of uncertainty about the hull integrity. IMO looked for factors which influence and cause risk levels to be high: 1) training, 2) management, 3) human element, 4) design of the craft, 5) communications, 6) maintenance. Many accidents happen at low speed - berthing. Approximately 86% of accidents are due to human error. Factors considered were reliability of hardware systems, personal performance of bridge staff, commercial drivers. Seventy-eight individual risk control measures which were identified addressed accident scenarios and their causes. Those then were grouped into 24 potential regulatory options. The conclusion
was that risks to passengers and crew in high speed ferries are
higher than previous experience indicated. A high speed craft is a pollution reducer, a stress reducer and a travel improver. "Today there is a shift away from highways into terminals," stated McKernan. Federal funds are available for the construction of intermodal connections to reduce risk. Human error
is responsible for most of the marine accidents. Operators of
faster craft follow industry standards, not government regulations.
Fire drills and man overboard drills were the training in years
past. Now there is new additional training for operators of craft
in excess of 28 knots. McKernan advocates more proactive steps
to develop and implement higher standards of safety, communications
protocols, as well as in the in-house training for operators of
high speed ferries. The external operating controls of AIS and
VTS are structured with only the highest speed vessels, but should
be a part of the in-house training. McKernan urged the various
levels of government to facilitate and expand high speed ferry
travel. The future must include the establishment of best practices
for operating fast craft. The fast ferries highlight twin hull, narrow hulls; are well-rounded and suited for many applications. Designed to meet the High Speed Craft Code, the fast craft uses a variety of propulsion systems. The good water propeller propulsion is 70 percent efficient. The jet propulsion is 60 percent efficient and heavier. The water jet is tolerable to the water break and highly maneuverable. Peter Duclos' dynamic visual presentation featured many new high speed ferries operating in the Northeast. LCDR Joseph
Duffy, USCG - Boston Sole reliance and dependency on radar seem to be the practice for High Speed Craft. Are all operators of high speed craft trained on the radar for accuracy? LCDR Duffy generated questions from the audience when he presented visual on the Flarecraft which plans to be operational in six months from New London, Connecticut to Long Island. The vessels will travel at 95-100 knots, have four passengers and can travel at 300 foot heights. Gene Guest,
Director, Marine Safety International We need to
change our thinking about training for high speed ferries and
need to consider why a simulator would be beneficial in training.
First, high speed ferries are different from other vessels in
their construction materials, composites, water jets, and they
are different in power to weight ratio. The high speed craft are
fast and slow, and according to IMO Code, operators need type
training, not just general training. Technical
requirements of a simulator for high speed ferries include: A cost-effective
simulator had modular construction to change layout, instrumentation
and controls. The simulator should have mobile capability - HSC
bridge simulator, ARPA, ECDIS, engine monitoring station, and
a night vision station. A simulated bridge could be put in a trailer
for instruction and used for observation by the instructor. |
