HOW SAFE ARE FERRIES

n 2003, a ferry in New           York City, San Francisco, and
York City struck a pier in      Boston). Seattle, which has the
Staten Island, killing          largest US ferry system, sees
eleven and injuring more than         approximately 26 million
seventy. In 2005, a ferry in          passengers each year. All the
British Columbia missed the dock      ferries all operate under
and crashed into small boats in       specific procedures and safety
the marina. And more recently, a      standards laid out by state and
ferry in the Red Sea sank,            federal authorities, some of
claiming the lives of over one        which have been updated since the
thousand passengers. Just a few       2003 crash in New York.
days previous to that disaster, a
ferry in Indonesia sank, killing      But ferries in Europe and the US
dozens. All of these tragedies        have a new burden to consider, as
beg the question: how safe are        well: terrorism. Since September
ferries? Ferries are popular with     11, all modes of mass transit are
tourists, considering them scenic     coming under intense scrutiny by
break from crowded highways, but      governmental organizations, and
should you entrust yourself and       this includes ferries. Often
your family to a ferry?               times operating with the same
                                      number of staff, ferries are
Ferries in developed countries        being required to check and
are, relatively speaking, safe –      re-check both passengers and
in fact, in the US traveling by       their vehicles for anything
ferry is far safer than traveling     suspicious. These new tasks are
by car. In the US, ferries            controversial in some areas,
operate in forty States, and in       especially in ferry systems
2002 ridership exceeded one           already crowded, where the
million in several large US           additional security is seen as a
cities (including Seattle, New        hassle and time-suck. In the past

few years, the US Coast Guard has     Bangladesh, roughly 1,000 people
struggled with balancing the          die in ferry accidents every
demands for both safety and time      year. The International Maritime
and staff efficiency. The new         Organization (IMO) has begun a
anti-terrorism regulations will       ten-year plan to reduce the
have the highest impact on large      number of ferry fatalities, but
US and European ferry systems.        when this will realistically
                                      begin to have an effect on the
While the new regulations             ferry systems of developing
represent a hassle in developed       nations remains a question.
countries, ferry regulation in
developing nations would be a         In summary, if you are
welcome relief. Ferry systems in      considering traveling by ferry as
developing nations suffer             part of your upcoming vacation,
continually from problems such as     you would do well to consider
understaffing, severe                 where your travel will be: In the
overcrowding, aging vessels, and      US, Canada, and Europe, you can
a lack of regulatory standards.       take comfort on the fact that you
As a result, it is not unusual to     are safer in a ferry than you are
see repeat accidents in the same      in a car and even some planes.
rivers and ports, with the same       But if you are traveling in a
ferry operators. The two worst        developing nation, either do your
places to catch a ferry are           homework carefully, or stay away
Somalia and Bangladesh, where         from the ferry systems
ferry accidents are routine. In       altogether.

About the Author: Rachel Medlock owns and operates the informational site, http://MyVacationInfo.com.

How Safe Are Ferries