Page 31: of Marine News Magazine (January 2015)

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well be through the $175 billion Multilateral Development

Bank fund for sustainable transport in developing nations.

The eight banks, African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian

Development Bank (ADB), Development Bank of Latin

America (CAF), European Bank for Reconstruction and

Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB),

Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), Islamic De- velopment Bank (ISDB) and the World Bank (WB) have pooled their resources for the ten-year effort which is cur- rently in year three of its development. It is not clear at this point what the criteria might be for selecting projects, but from all indications, there is clear recognition of the positive sustainability features of non-road transport solutions.

In a parallel effort, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon in August appointed a High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport, whose role is to review and recommend policy options for sustainable transport par- ticularly for developing nations over the coming ? ve-year period. The ferry sector is represented on the twelve-mem- ber panel by Len Roueche, Executive Director Interferry.

WFSA Executive Director Roberta Weisbrod will second

Interferry on this panel.

Looking Ahead, Getting Involved

How can industry get involved in the market place for safe ferries for the developing world? One way is to ? rst dial into the News section of the WFSA website: www.fer- rysafety.org. Another would be participate in the upcom- ing Ferry Safety and Technology conference where we will discuss pushing the envelope on ferry design, materials and construction, as well as technology advances in e-training, weather & wave information detection and dissemination, and advanced personal communications for ferry safety.

The conference will be held April 16-17, in New York City and is being co-sponsored so far by Interferry, Society of

Naval Architects and Naval Engineers (SNAME), and the

Transportation Research Board (TRB). Contact ferrysafe- [email protected] for more information.

Roberta Weisbrod is the Executive

Director of Worldwide Ferry Safety

Association, a not-for-pro? t organization dedicated to reducing ferry fatalities in the developing world. Prior to founding WFSA with colleagues she helped coordinate the Interferry-IMO ferry safety project for Interferry.

Dr. Weisbrod is also the Principal of Sustainable Ports, a planning consultancy for ferries and waterborne freight. www.marinelink.com

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