Ferry News Archive
Ferry firms told to be fuel efficient and more eco-friendly
Date: 09 Jul 2007 00:00 Source: Lloyds ListFerry companies face a number of challenges including balancing capacity, offering attractive amenities, providing maximum safety as well as speed and pricing issues, according to Frederik Naumann of Sartori & Berger.
'Fuel efficiency and eco-friendliness will become increasingly important,' he said. 'The EU is preparing surprises for us.'
Ship designs needed to be flexible to allow for a vessel to operate on a different route, he told delegates at a recent ShipShape International conference.
With the size of trucks set to increase in the future, ferries will have to adapt, he said. 'Is industry fully aware of environmental issues,' he asked. 'I think it is not.'
Marco Pavoncelli of Rodriquex Canteri Navali agrees that the environment is very important, including the issue of wake damage to coastlines and oil and noise pollution. With high fuel prices, the challenge is to offer the same speed using less power, reducing running costs, crew numbers and fuel consumption, he says.
The shipyard is in the process of working on two hydrofoil projects, one of which will offer speeds of 47 knots but at the same time offer lower fuel consumption in comparison to similar fast ferries, Mr Pavoncelli said. The yard’s second prototype — a hybrid between a hydrofoil and a SWATH (small waterplane area twin hull) offers fuel consumption that is 50% lower than a conventional ship with the same speed and deadweight, he said.
Both of the new craft are speculative builds and the yard is looking for a customer to test them.
According to Edwin van der Stam of Mercure Ventures, flexibility will be key to the further development of the ferry industry. 'Ferry travel is traditionally associated with point to point,' he told delegates. Many ferries are purpose-built for routes which puts strain on key costs, he said.
He expects further consolidation in the ferry industry 'even with better profitability and sizeable investments'.
Freight carryings, he believes, will be increasingly affected by the fact that manufacturing is disappearing from Europe towards southeast Asia. Europeans would become net importers.
'Will the infrastructure be available to deal with increased volumes?' he asked.
Challenges on the passenger side,he said, included the trend for lower cost products.
Passenger profiles have changed, Mr van der Stam said, as the younger generation was less likely to take to ferry travel, while there was a growing population of older people who 'don’t want tobe rushed'.
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