Firing up ferry safety

摘要

Coming up with a safe and affordable ferry design is all the more important given the recent spate of accidents involving ferries which have cost the lives of many onboard, writes Sandra Speares. Ferry accidents are nothing new, as has been demonstrated by casualties like the Philippines Dona Paz in 1987 in which over 4,000 lives were lost. Ferry casualties like Sewol last year and Dong Fang Zhi Xing earlier this year, have both cost many hundreds of people their lives. Many of the casualties of recent years have resulted from a number of factors, encouraging innovation in the area of ferry design, with the view of improving the safety of vessels. This is something that has evidently been of major importance to the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association over a number of years.