By
Michael Grey |
Ferries are a little unusual in the business of ship procurement. With a newbuilding contract for a bulk carrier, a tanker, a container ship or some other eminently tradeable asset, it is the specification for the vessel that is all-important.
The ship will be built for specified trades, but its dimensions, range and draught will enable it to operate widely within these parameters around the world. A ferry is rather different. It is an important cog in a logistics system, but the terminals on the ferry route assume far more immediate importance.
It is a regrettable fact that it is generally far easier and faster to build even the biggest and most sophisticated ferry than it is to engage with the planning and construction problems that rear up when constructing new terminals, or rebuilding existing facilities, for the ship. Years can sometimes tick away while the legal and planning processes are wrestled with, and public inquiries, objections, revisions and legislative hurdles must all be surmounted before a spade is put into the ground.
Ferry terminals must be carefully designed to ensure they are able to accommodate vessels easily
One example is the two 48,000gt replacement ferries for the important route that links Tasmania with mainland Australia. The first has already been built and delivered by the yard in Finland and the sister ship’s completion is imminent. But alas, the terminal which these ships will use in the Tasmanian port of Devonport has been severely delayed and may not be completed for another two years. The ships, which are twice the size of those they are designed to replace, cannot use the existing facilities and must be laid up on completion. The first vessel was moved late last year to the warmer climate of the Scottish port of Leith, where a convenient berth has been found. Meanwhile government ministers and senior figures in the operating company have been forced to resign, such has been the outrage at the delay.
The fate of the Tasmanian sisters will not be the first of such cases where ships and terminals have failed to coincide their development schedules. Indeed, sometimes it has been made even more embarrassing, where the new ship has arrived for docking trials at the conclusion of the delivery voyage and has failed to make the grade. Perhaps, with the best efforts of the master, the constrictions of the berth, the problem of an inadequately dredged swinging basin or the difficult tidal or weather conditions have demonstrated that the operation of getting the ship safely into the berth is just too difficult to be practical. And while clever simulators might mitigate the risk of such a terminal problem, it is sometimes the case that such difficulties will only show up when manoeuvring the as-built ship in its designated port.
Some years ago, there was a sad case of two new freight ferries which had to be withdrawn from service shortly after delivery when it proved impossible to control them in a narrow, winding and shallow channel, in and out of the port. In another, a new service from a port which had never before hosted a ferry operation had to be abandoned because of the tidal conditions that made it impossible to operate any sort of predictable service for the users. And while it may be possible, through modifications or dredging, to improve matters, on occasions this has been judged too impractical or expensive.
As the saying goes, you should always ‘have all your ducks in a row’ before setting sail, but sometimes it proves impossible, due to circumstances outside the realms of ship design or scheduling, to anticipate all the problems. A ferry route is a system in itself, and every element has to work in harmony if it is to achieve the sort of efficiency that makes customers want to use it.
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.
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