Page 68: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 1992)

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THE FERRY RAA^RKET

Ferry And Passenger Vessel Service In The U.S. by James R. McCaul, president, IMA Associates, Inc.

There are currently 5,300 ferries and miscellaneous passenger vessels operating in U.S. waters.

They provide commuter ferry ser- vice, vehicle transport, river and coastal cruises, sightseeing, dinner cruises, river gambling, crew trans- port to offshore platforms and char- ter fishing.

Profile of Existing Fleet

These vessels are as diverse as the services offered. They range in size from ferries with capacity for more than 5,000 passengers, to wa- ter taxis equipped to carry only five to ten people. As shown in exhibit one, all but a small percentage of

U.S. passenger vessels now in ser- vice are under 100 gross tons. Al- most a third are under 20 gross tons.

Only three percent are 100 gross tons or greater.

U.S. Coast Guard regulations have an impact on the distribution of ves- sel size. Regulations differ signifi- cantly for passenger vessels of 100 gross tons or more versus those un- der 100 gross tons. The former are called subchapter H vessels, the lat- ter subchapter T vessels. Sub H ves- sels are subject to relatively strin- gent safety and crewingregulations which do not apply to sub T vessels.

As a result, architects and builders are very creative in designing ves- sels to be rated just below 100 gross tons.

Exhibit two shows the breakdown of the current fleet in terms of pas- senger carrying capacity. As indi- cated, the majority of vessels are designed to carry less than 100 pas- sengers. More than two-thirds are rated below 50 passenger capacity.

Exhibit three provides a break- down of the existing fleet by year of vessel construction. As shown, al- most two-thirds of the fleet is less than 20 years of age. More than one-

EXHIBIT 1

Breakdown of Ferry and Small Passenger

Vessel Fleet, by Gross Tonnage (As of December 31,1990)

Gross Tonnage No. of Vessels Percent of Total 100 + 142 3 90-99 887 1 17 80-89 294 6 70-79 203 4 60-69 226 4 50-59 297 6 40-49 317 6 30-39 437 8 20-29 811 15

Under 20 1,673 32

Total 5,2872 100 1 472 of the 887 vessels are between 97 and 99 GT. 2 Total excludes 102 vessels whose tonnage is unknown.

Source: Based on an analysis of U.S. Coast Guard records.

October, 1992 69