Passenger ferry designers look ahead
Written by Nick Blenkey
Foil ferry design being developed by Washington State project features composites hull, hydrofoils and electric drive option. [Glosten]
Incat Crowther
If there’s one basic design that has been more successful than any other in the U.S. passenger ferry market, it’s the Incat Crowther catamaran. Nowhere is this more evident than in the series of vessels built to the same basic design for NYC Ferry by Hornblower.
At press time, the two latest deliveries in this series were its first two low-emission EPA Tier 4 compliant 29-meter ferries, H401 and Curiosity, with an Incat Crowther digital design package allowing identical vessel to be constructed at independent Louisiana shipyards, Halimar Shipyard of Morgan City and Breaux Brothers Enterprises of Loreauville.
The new vessels include seats for 354 passengers, dedicated bicycle storage, disability access, mobile device charging stations, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a well-equipped on-board convenience store. All the vessels are equipped with main engines from Baudouin, but unlike any of the existing vessels in operation, the new vessels are equipped with EPA Tier 4 compliant engines with Incat Crowther integrating a Baudouin-supplied SCR system into the vessel design along with the necessary urea tanks and dosing system components.
Although the vessels were commissioned prior to the COVID-19 emergency, it is expected that the high passenger demand NYC Ferry has experienced since commencing operations in 2017 will return. The new vessels complement 17 Incat Crowther 26-meter vessels and fourteen 29-meter vessels already been delivered to NYC, with four more 26-meter ferries currently under construction at Gulf Craft and Metal Shark, both in Franklin, La., along with an additional 29-meter vessel under construction at St. John’s Shipbuilding in Palatka, Fla. Upon completion of these additional vessels, the NYC Ferry fleet will have grown to an amazing 38 vessels in just over three years.
When Will Demand Pick Up?
The success of NYC Ferry underscores the rising demand for ferry services evident in many U.S. population centers up until the pandemic struck. What will happen to that demand in the “new normal” is anyone’s guess.
Ferry service providers are still planning ahead as best they can. In the San Francisco Bay Area, for example, WETA says it “is monitoring ridership data and overall transportation demand closely to ensure we’re offering the right level of ferry service to sustainably meet the needs of our passengers and the region. While it’s difficult to predict what will happen given the uncertainty we’re facing, we expect to enhance service in Alameda and Oakland in the coming months. This includes the introduction of a new route for Alameda commuters.”
