Page 29: of Marine News Magazine (January 2017)

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would require a vessel design that was ernment has been slow to develop the safe, practical, suitable, ef? cient and service so it might be time to bring in commercially viable. After much re- private sector partners.

search Pastrana discovered the mid- Training for crew members on fer- speed, steel hull, RoPax catamaran ries has often been a problem in de- designed by Sea Transport Solutions veloping countries. Hence, a new e- of Australia. training program is being developed by a group including World Wide

EW OLICIES ETTER ULLS

N P , B H Ferry Safety Association, Damen

Jump ahead six years to the pres- Shipyards of the Netherlands, Marine ent day and Archipelago Philippine Learning Systems of Canada, and Ar-

Ferries now has 10 of the newly built chipelago Philippine Ferries.

RoPax Cats which are now branded In the Philippines, there is a tradi- as “Fast Cats.” They are not only tional boat – the banca – which has a the ? rst purpose-built ferries for the wooden hull and an outrigger. They

Philippines, but they are internation- are used for many purposes; an esti- ally classed and adhere to international mated 2,700 of them serve as unof- safety rules and regulations. Archipel- ? cial ferries carrying up to 50 passen- ago Philippine Ferries has come a long gers and sometimes more. A plan is way in the ferry business in a relatively being developed to replace them with short period. Last year Chet was elect- a safer design. ed President of Interferry, a one-year The Philippine people face many responsibility that includes hosting the challenges: a population spread out annual conference which took place in over many islands; natural disasters

October in Manila with over 320 del- such as typhoons, earthquakes, volca- egates from around the world. nic eruptions and ? oods; and severe

Chet had an update for the del- poverty, especially in the outlying areas.

egates: a second lot of 10 RoPax Cats On the other side of the ledger: the were under construction and a third Philippine people are friendly and lot had been ordered. He was also industrious, many of them are well- looking into opportunities to expand trained seaman who make up over operations to the international market 30% of the crews on ships world-wide with potential links to Malaysia, In- and most speak the global language of donesia and perhaps other Southeast business, English; and a recent report

Asian countries. He also explained from the World Bank (East Asia Paci? c that his company was becoming a Economic Update) projects economic transport and tourism business and growth to reach 6.4% for 2016, in sec- not just a ferry operator. He has part- ond place for the region, just behind nered with two bus companies, JAM China. The Philippine people have the and Philtranco, to provide a full trans- ability to conquer ferry safety and be- portation service including a chain of come a role model for other develop- budget hotels at strategic locations. ing nations facing similar challenges.

And the story continues. Archi- Watch this space as they do.

pelago Philippine Ferries is getting *Image credit: Philippine Ferries Corporation involved in a number of other proj- ects related to the ferry business. The

Len Roueche is an Advisor to the Board at Förde Reederei Seetouristik (FRS).

Pasig River runs through the centre

Additionally, he is the former CEO of of Metro Manila and is being used

Interferry, a shipping association repre- once again as the right of way for a senting the ferry industry worldwide.

commuter ferry service. But the gov- www.marinelink.com

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