Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2020)

INSIGHTS: INTERFERRY 2020 yearbook

Ferry Operators Start to See

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

By Mike Corrigan ast year the ferry industry was riding the crest of a wave. vital services has been forthcoming from certain governments,

In an end-of-year review, I went so far as to express my although this prompted reservations from some operators, who belief that the industry had rarely if ever been in such argued that such emergency measures could lead to unfair com-

Lgood health. Throughout the developed world, most op- petition at the expense of more robust rivals.

erators were reporting year-on-year traffc growth and many That said, the economic impact of the virus undoubtedly in- had set new records for passenger and vehicle volumes. Mean- fected even the largest operators. Thousands of seafarers and while rising demand was being met by a furry of newbuild shore-based staff were laid off, numerous ships were laid up orders everywhere from North America to Asia, Australia and and various services were either suspended or run with reduced

Europe. feets and timetables. In many cases, these solutions could well

But that was then…before everything turned upside down in be permanent rather than temporary.

the past few months as the COVID-19 pandemic swept through The sharp decrease in seafarer numbers was among the main all sectors of society with devastating impact on human and fndings of a survey conducted in April by the European Com- economic well-being. munity Shipowners’ Associations, which also revealed that ferries were one of the worst-hit shipping sectors, along with cruiseships, car carriers and offshore vessels.

Measures to help liquidity were found to be largely lacking or, where they did exist, impracticable due to costly administrative burdens. Even those companies that were confdent of a return to pre-crisis levels of operation said that planned investments would be can- celled, put on hold or reduced – and that included initia- tives to reduce air emissions.

But there was also the much more encouraging re- sponse that some recovery was expected in the rest of the

Stay compliant and save hours of year. It will surely be a relative upturn, but that is where workload with NAVTOR´s award-winning

Interferry and its members - more than 260 in 40 coun-

PASSAGE PLANNING MODULE tries - are now frmly focused following recent confrma- tion that travel restrictions would be gradually relaxed in advance of this summer’s travel and tourism season.

Until then, the worldwide ferry industry was carrying more This is absolutely critical given that ro-pax operators are mas- than two billion passengers per year – much the same as the sively dependent on earnings from the three-month peak period global airline total – not to mention 250 million personal ve- window in order to support their less proftable passenger and

NavStation® puts the navigator in complete control, delivering hicles and 40 million trucks and trailers. When governments freight carryings in the other nine months of the year.

Passage Planning everything they need to plan and organise the voyage. Once the plan is complete, verifed and approved routes are transferred to around the world banned all but essential travel as part of their In fact we had already anticipated the easing of the lockdown ‘lockdown’ pandemic response, most remaining ferry traffc by issuing ‘best practice’ guidelines for the safe resumption of the ECDIS at the front of the bridge and to shore (NavTracker®). has never been easier was confned to maintaining lifeline deliveries of food and oth- passenger ferry services as and when allowed. Designed to en-

With databases and permits automatically distributed and er essential supplies. This continued despite companies know- sure social distancing and enhance sanitisation, the guidelines updated seamlessly through our cyber-secure NavBox® ing they were losing money at an escalating and unsustainable were based on feedback from a survey of members and cover and e-Navigation Suite®, NAVTOR ensures you to always be compliant and up to date – Easy and safe!

rate because passenger carryings – a crucial revenue source - shoreside and shipboard measures to protect passengers, staff were virtually non-existent. and crew - ranging from booking, check-in and boarding pro-

The resulting decline in traffc has been put at between 75- cedures to onboard limitations in passenger numbers and facili- 100%, with enormous strain on liquidity. State aid to sustain ties. The guidance was circulated to members and discussed 16 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • June 2020 navtor.com