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comes at a price for us and we have to carry more passengers to maintain the same level of revenue. Fortunately, we’ve generated greater revenue. Part of this is attributable to our ancillary sales — hotels, tours, afternoon teas, etc. — to accommodate deals like this.”

Looking forward, Bryan cited fore- casts and reports from the hospitality industry which indicate that the economy may be slow in the short term, but is expected to pick up in the coming years to be back where it had been before the recession hit. “It’s going to get better. We all just have to keep our heads above water until it does,” Bryan said. www.marinelink.com MN 41

Damen, Doeksen

Environmentally Friendly Ferry

Damen has been tasked with developing the first environmental- ly friendly ferry design for the

Dutch shipping company Rederij

Doeksen. Based in Harlingen,

Rederij Doeksen operates passenger and car ferries between Harlingen and the Dutch Wadden islands of

Vlieland and Terschelling. Once the

Dutch shipbuilding group and

Doeksen have collected all the data, the two partners will analyze the best way an environmentally friend- ly vessel can be developed. The ves- sel will be powered by LNG, a hybrid system using wind/solar energy and other alternative solu- tions. “If it turns out that using a diesel system with a filter is the bet- ter option then this may be consid- ered,” said Henk Grunstra, Damen

Product Director. Damen and

Doeksen aim to have a detailed design completed by the end of 2011. The sustainable ferry design project is partly funded by the

Dutch government (Stimulatie

Innovatie Binnenvaart) and by a

European Union Interreg – North

Sea Region grant (iTRANSFER) which promotes interregional coop- eration. The funding aims to stimu- late connections via the waterways in the North Sea area, with particu- lar attention being paid to sustain- able shipping.