INTERVIEW 122 Safety first Interferry’s Oliver Weiss explains to Rebecca Gibson why the global trade association has joined with the International Maritime Organization and other partners to organise the new Africa Ferry Safety Seminar Historically, almost all ferry fatalities have occurred in developing nations, according to Interferry. Consequently, the association has been working to increase safety awareness among regulators, operators and the public in countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, and in 2024, it will widen its focus to Africa. Oliver Weiss, chair of Interferry’s Domestic Ferry Safety Committee, explains why Interferry is now prioritising Africa and highlights what delegates can expect to learn when attending the seminar in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 16-17 April 2024. Certain countries in Southeast Asia have a very poor ferry safety record, so why is Interferry hosting a ferry safety seminar in Africa rather than this region? There is a problem with fatalities in Southeast Asia, so unsurprisingly, our efforts to improve domestic ferry safety have been focused on that part of the world so far. We’ve seen positive developments in the region and awareness has improved a lot, partially thanks to social media and our recent FerrySafe initiative in the Philippines. However, the number of people perishing in ferry accidents in Africa is worrying. While most fatalities are never reported or estimated at best, the continent’s safety record is very concerning and there has been little effort made to improve it. Who else has Interferry partnered with to host this seminar? It would have been very difficult to organise this seminar on our own, so we’re most grateful that the IMO has thrown its weight behind this. We also thank the official host, registry and regulatory body Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation, and World Maritime University (WMU). The latter is an independent academic institution founded by the IMO and has a very strong alumni network in Africa. With our support, WMU conducted a scoping study of ferry safety in 2022, focusing on seven countries with the highest number of fatalities in domestic ferry accidents. Four of these seven highrisk countries were in Africa. What did you learn from WMU’s scoping study? WMU’s scoping study was an eyeopener for us. We realised that, for the most part, we were not familiar with the African ferry community. We had little information about the number of fatalities, who the operators and stakeholders were, or the vastness of the ferry network. African countries are interesting from an Interferry perspective because the continent’s domestic ferries provide services on rivers, lakes and oceans, all of which have different safety issues. This seminar will give us first-hand knowledge of the African ferry scene and also ties in well with our own 48th Interferry conference, which will be held in Marrakesh, Morocco, in October 2024. We want to encourage African operators, regulators and legislators to join us in Marrakesh for a follow-up session. Who will attend the two-day Africa seminar and what topics will be discussed? We shall have a strong Interferry team with specialists who will provide expertise. Overcrowding and overloading are a significant problem in developing countries, and this will be addressed in the first two panels, which will focus on ticketing and passenger counting and loading/ Photo: istock/grandriver
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