Marine Log’s FERRIES 2021 attracts largest attendance in 15 years

Written by Heather Ervin
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Marine Log’s FERRIES 2022 event will need a larger space than this year’s. Available exhibit space sold out, the conference room was full throughout the entire event, and registration numbers were the highest in more than 15 years. The theme of this year’s event fell in line with the overall sentiment of attendees and speakers, “The ferry industry is poised to rebound in 2022.” The event was held in cooperation with the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA).

 “The FERRIES 2021 conference was a huge success,” says Gary Lynch, publisher of Marine Log. “We had a record attendance, an outstanding program, and a very high level of engagement among attendees, speakers, and sponsors. We always strive to support the markets we serve, and we are very grateful that everyone in the ferry community responded in kind. We also owe a big thank you to the PVA for their support and endorsement.”  

THE EVENT

Held on the New York Harbor waterfront in Jersey City, N.J., overlooking multiple busy Hudson River ferry routes. across from the Manhattan skyline on November 9-10, FERRIES 2021 was the latest in a series that, since 1987, has brought participants the latest in market development trends, emerging technologies, vessel design, regulatory issues and more.

Featuring individual and panel presentations by leading industry experts, the two-day event concluded with a unique ferry tour of a new Ollis Class ferry delivered to New York Harbor earlier this fall for the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) Staten Island Ferry Division. The ferry—designed by Elliott Bay Design Group in Seattle, Wash.—was built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group’s Allanton, Fla., shipyard.

Conference attendees got a guided tour of the vessel’s pilothouse, engineroom, and its passenger spaces. NY Waterway, who shuttled attendees from Jersey City to Manhattan to tour the ferry made a surprise trip around the Statue of Liberty.

NYCDOT also allowed guests to explore its full mission pilothouse simulator. Designed as a close reproduction of the Ollis Class pilothouse, the simulator features the same Furuno radars and Transas ECS units as the ferries.

The event began with a keynote opening by Cecilia Kushner, the executive vice president for the Planning Division of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).

Kushner, who oversees NYC Ferry, spoke on the city’s historic investment in ferries and how NYC Ferry became a six-route (soon to be seven) ferry service connecting all five boroughs. She also spoke on the positive future of the ferry industry. 

SPEAKERS & SPONSORS

Other speakers included Seamus Murphy, executive director, San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA); Pace Ralli, CEO of SWITCH Maritime; Joey D’Isernia, presidet of Eastern Shipbuilding Group; Ed Welch, legislative director of the Passenger Vessel Association; Cameron Clark of Hornblower – City Experiences; Hank Berg, General Manager, Casco Bay Lines; Morgan Fanberg, president of Glosten; and many more.

While the location of FERRIES 2022 is yet to be announced, Marine Log is busy scoping out venues on both the West and East coasts and will announce the date and location soon.

“Since I started with Marine Log in 2019, my goal has been to focus the content of our events on topics that matter now and in the years to come using qualified experts as our guides into next steps and best practices,” says Heather Ervin, editor in chief of Marine Log. “I think we accomplished just that this year and will continue to do so in the years to come with all of our events. We listen to what our industry wants and we’re always open to feedback to make events, our magazine and website a better experience.”

The sold-out group of platinum, gold, silver, and bronze sponsors who helped make the event a success include:

  • Cummins (Platinum)
  • Soundown (Platinum)
  • J&A Enterprises (Platinum)
  • Glosten (Gold)
  • ABB (Gold)
  • Kongsberg (Gold)
  • Wärtsilä (Gold)
  • Marine Jet Power (Gold)
  • Siemens Energy (Gold)
  • UES Seating (Tour Sponsor)
  • Hornblower (Lunch Sponsor)
  • TEPCO Solutions (Cocktail Sponsor)
  • Simplex Americas (Lanyard Sponsor)
  • Metal Shark (Registration Bag Sponsor)
  • NCP Coatings (Silver)
  • MTU – A Rolls-Royce Solution (Silver)
  • BMT (Silver)
  • Elkon (Silver)
  • EMS Marcon (Silver)
  • Beier Integrated Systems (Silver)
  • RocketRez (Silver)
  • The Shearer Group (Silver)
  • C-Job Naval Architects (Silver)
  • Thrustmaster (Silver)
  • Eastern Shipbuilding Group (Bronze)
  • Elliott Bay Design Group (Bronze)
  • Great Lakes Power (Bronze)
  • Twin Disc (Bronze)
  • Derecktor (Bronze)
  • Karl Senner (Bronze)
  • Rigidized Metals (Bronze)
  • All American Marine (Bronze)
  • Panolin (Bronze)
  • Martin Ottaway (Bronze)
  • TNEMEC (Bronze)
  • R.A. Mitchell (Bronze)
  • BAE Systems (Bronze)
  • Thrive Payments (Bronze)
  • Cavotec
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