In partnership with The International Maritime Organization, International Maritime Law Institute and World Maritime University.
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This project's duration was 01/05/2024 - 31/10/2025
£399,315
International Maritime Organization, IMO International Maritime Law Institute and World Maritime University
Every year, hundreds of lives are lost due to domestic ferry accidents which might have been prevented, at least, partly, in a more safety-focused area of trade. With 95% of ferry-related casualties occurring on domestic voyages, safety, regulation, and training is not optional - it's vital.
Funded by Lloyd's Register Foundation, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in partnership with the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) and World Maritime University (WMU), is carrying out a programme of work designed to make long-term improvements in domestic ferry safety, especially in high-risk Asian and African countries.
Taking IMO's model regulations for domestic ferry safety as a starting point, the programme will deliver consultations, increased awareness, understanding and buy-in with the regulations, and support with adoption, implementation, and enforcement (especially legal and technical support), including support for safety improvements via non-regulatory routes.
The ultimate beneficiaries of the project are ferry passengers and crew, who will be safer as a result. In the more immediate term, the beneficiaries are governments and other stakeholders, such as ferry companies, that will be able to access support, via the programme's activities and outputs, with planning and implementing joined-up and sustained safety improvements, often (but not exclusively) using the model regulations as a framework. IMO, WMU and IMLI will raise awareness of the project and its opportunities among its members/networks.
A training manual, self-paced e-learning programme and an online best practices forum for domestic ferry safety are currently under development jointly by IMO, IMLI and WMU with funding from the Foundation. I am truly excited about their potential impact and the immense possibilities for following up with safety enhancement programmes anchored in the developed content.
Anish Hebbar Associate Professor, World Maritime University
The Foundation, in partnership with The World Maritime University, ARCSILEA, and Interferry, has helped produce a new scoping study on the safety of domestic ferries.
Maritime safety applies right across the board. While most people think about fishers or seafarers when it comes to danger at sea, Associate Professor Anish Hebbar of the World Maritime University explores a sometimes lesser known safety challenge: ferry travel.
Our grant has enabled experts to undertake a study to identify which measures have been most helpful in strengthening safety in its domestic ferry industry.
