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EDITOR’S NOTE hen I think about passenger vessels, the ? rst thing that pops into my head is a picture of a 900-foot, gleaming cruise ship on its way into the port of Miami with about 3,000

W souls on board. Very few, if any of those behemoths are U.S. ? ag and none of them serve our coastwise Jones Act markets. On the other hand, more than 6,300 inspected passen- ger vessels ply U.S. waters for one reason or another, fully 15 percent of our domestic, Jones

Act compliant ? eet in terms of numbers alone. It’s much more important than that, however.

At last count, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimated that more than 120 million passengers were embarked in 2016 alone.

Today’s North American passenger vessel and ferry sector continues right where it left off at the end of 2017, red hot and staying that way. The recapitalization of the existing passenger [email protected] vessel ? eet – now said to be 27 years old, still ? ve years older than the ? eet’s mean age – is one reason. Another rests in the reality that new routes and markets are being explored and opened.

Tampa Bay is one such place where the second year of a seasonal ferry trial is underway. That story begins on page 34.

Further inland, the days of riverboat cruising on tired, recycled hulls are drawing to a close.

Sparkling new, ? t-for-purpose vessels are entering service and new players are looking for a way in. Passengers eager to explore the heartland aren’t going to be satis? ed with a fresh coat of paint and some new carpets. In this edition, Tom Ewing provides a close look at this rapidly evolving niche sector, starting on page 38.

Amidst all the good news about newbuildings, new routes and green repowers (passenger vessels are enthusiastically embracing emerging hybrid, battery and Tier 4 propulsion options), the issue of safety continues to dog the sector. No, not here at home – that’s primarily a third world problem – but a look at the latest Coast Guard safety numbers is ample proof that we can tighten up in North America, as well. Indeed, the passenger vessel sector is one of the most tightly regulated of any on this side of the pond. The advent of Safety Management Systems (SMS), something championed by both the Coast Guard and the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA), therefore is arguably coming at just the right time.

At a time when there is much uncertainty on the collective waterfronts, I can think of no other sector that has more upside to achieve in the New Year than does the domestic passenger vessel game. It’s here then, that we should stop and look back to my ? nal thoughts in this very space, exactly one year ago. I said, “The ultimate winner(s) will be the environment, as more cars and trucks are removed from the congested roadways, a smoother supply chain that has more options, and a boatbuilding industry that embraces the challenge of making it all pos- sible.” I love it when I’m right.

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Joseph Keefe, Editor, [email protected]

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