Tag: ferries

221 rescued The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Sunday that 221 passengers and crew were rescued when their interisland ferry ran aground as it neared port in Cebu City in the Visayas.Among those rescued were several ranking government officials as well as Korean and Japanese tourists who were on board the fast craft "Weesam Express 8" on their way from the island province of Bohol to Cebu, said Commander Rolando Punzalan, the chief of the PCG station in Cebu.Punzalan said the ferry left Tagbilaran City in Bohol at 4:30pm on Saturday and was to arrive in Cebu City two hours later at 6:30pm.But 30 minutes before its expected arrival, Punzalan said the PCG received a distress signal from the captain who reported the ferry ran aground near Cebu's neighboring city of Talisay.Among the rescued passengers were Dr. Susana Madarieta, the regional head of the Department of Health; Efren Carreon, the regional chief of the National Economic and Development Authority; and Edward Villarta, the regional head of the National Bureau of Investigation.One of the passengers, who requested anonymity, complained the PCG craft and other vessels arrived late at the scene, resulting in a long delay in the rescue efforts that ...

She survived after falling overboard from a passenger ferry 20 miles off the of East Yorkshire The 23-year-old fell overboard from the Princess Seaways DFDS ferry, which was travelling from Newcastle to Ijmuiden, just after 8.30pm on Monday night.A Sea King rescue helicopter from RAF Leconfield was scrambled and the Scarborough and Filey lifeboat crews were put on standby, but it was the ferry' s own rescue craft which pulled the woman from the water.The crew reversed the ship's course and after 30 minutes in the water, the woman, of Welwyn Garden City, Herts., was brought back onto the boat before being winched on board the helicopter and flown to Scarborough Hospital, where she was checked for hypothermia and kept overnight before being released.Footage of the woman's amazing rescue from the North Sea was captured by the RAF Sea King helicopter.Flight Sergeant Rick Jones from RAF Search and Rescue said the woman was lucky to be alive."To survive the fall, the time in the water and for the ferry to find her and all the assets to be in one place to get one person out such a vast area of the North Sea, she was incredibly lucky," he said.A ...

All 300 passengers were rescued An evacuation of 300 passengers during a ferry fire emergency could have been a "major disaster", a rescued traveller says.Passengers on the Auckland-to-Waiheke ferry were rescued in the Hauraki Gulf last night from the single-hulled Jet Raider, known to commuters as the "Vomit Comet".Ferry company Fullers had put the passengers on the "spare boat" to free up its more comfortable craft for a charter.But the boat stopped between Motutapu and Motuihe islands after fire alarms sounded. Crew doused the engine room in foam and set the anchor.The StarFlyte ferry was nearby and was called upon to evacuate the passengers. It did so with no gangways between boats, forcing passengers to hop the gap from one to the other.Waiheke Island resident Hans Versluys, a 52-year-old television programmer, said: "If this had happened with a stronger nor'easter, it had the potential of being a major disaster - the Motuihe reef was quite close by."Jet Raider was notorious with regular ferry passengers who called it the "Tomb Raider" and the "Vomit Comet", he said."They haven't bought a new ferry for ages now."Waiheke resident Kevin White said StarFlyte pulled up next to Jet Raider shortly after he heard an ...

Ninety-three people were rescued An overcrowded ferry has sunk off eastern Indonesia, killing at least 10 people, police said, as search-and-rescue teams scoured the choppy waters.Ninety-three people were rescued, but officials feared others were trapped inside the sunken vessel, said Brigadier General Sigit Sudarmanto, a police chief on Sulawesi island.The Windu Karsa, travelling from the town of Bajoe Bone to Kolaka, went down just after midnight in waters off southern Sulawesi as many passengers were sleeping.Survivors told investigators that the ship capsized hours after a leak was discovered in the rear."Many of those pulled from the water were not wearing life jackets," Sudarmanto said. "They just had on pajamas or sarongs."Two of the dead were children, he said.It's not clear how many people were aboard the ship.The manifest - generally unreliable in Indonesia because tickets are sold onboard to passengers who are never registered - listed only 57 passengers and 20 crew, Sudarmanto said.Many were heading home to celebrate the end of the Islamic fasting month, Ramadan, said Reppind, chief of the search-and-rescue operation.He said six ships and one speedboat were at the scene, but that high waves were hampering their rescue efforts.Reppind, like many Indonesians, goes by only one ...

The captain got stuck in the bathroom because of a jammed lock A Finnish ferry has run aground while its captain was stuck in the bathroom.One member of staff managed to slow the island-hopping tourist ferry down, but the vessel, carrying 54 passengers, slammed onto a rock near the shore of Helsinki, the Finnish coastguard said Friday.The captain got stuck in the bathroom because of a jammed lock and yelled for help, the coastguard said.Some passengers were bruised and tableware was broken in the incident. The coastguard is investigating whether the captain's actions amounted to criminal endangerment."He was stuck in the toilet. As soon as the staff member got the door open, it was too late," said Jan Sundell, head of investigation.Source: Reuters

Big ferry firms fund EU and IMO lobbying post Global ferry operators' association Interferry is opening a Brussels office with a full-time specialist for European Union and IMO activities. It says the move is a bid to boost the ferry industry's voice on maritime policy and regulations. Interferry has had consultative status at IMO since 2003.Five major European members of the worldwide trade association - Brittany Ferries, DFDS, Grimaldi Group, P&O Ferries and Stena Line - have guaranteed start-up funding for the initiative.Johan Roos, director of sustainability at Sweden's Stena group since 2006, will join Interferry as executive director of EU and IMO affairs in September, working from an office within the Brussels HQ of the European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA).Interferry's Canada-based CEO Len Roueche says: "This is a landmark in our 36-year history and takes us to a new level in raising our influence on the industry's global governance. We need real input on safety and environmental issues to avoid having potentially ruinous decisions dumped on us. "He adds: "We have had some lobbying successes - such as changes to the High Speed Craft Code - through our IMO consultative status and as members of BIMCO and the International ...

A new green ship design is being developed Southampton, U.K., based BMT Nigel Gee Ltd. has won an order to design a 25 m, all-electric, 150 passenger ferry in China.A new green ship design is being developed to demonstrate the practical use of a battery powered ferry in estuarial and coastal waters where marine transportation is a viable alternative to land-based transport. BMT has been tasked with providing the design based on its innovative design capability and its proven low resistance hull form technology which is currently in use in many low wash catamaran ferries. In addition to the fundamental naval architecture design, BMT will develop the layout and styling of the vessel to provide an elegant, yet simple design that reflects the vessel's modern green credentials and practical functionality as a passenger ferry. The design uses a proven catamaran hull form with VRB (vanadium redox batteries) batteries providing the power to the electric drive motors, which will achieve a 10 knot service speed. Solar cells incorporated into the roof structure will top up the batteries whilst the vessel is in use.Construction of the vessel will start by the middle of 2011 with trials and delivery by mid-2012.Commenting on the ...

Interferry is opening a Brussels office Interferry is opening a Brussels office with a full-time specialist for European Union and IMO activities in a bid to strengthen the ferry industry's voice on maritime policy and regulations.Start-up funding for the initiative has been guaranteed by five major European members of the worldwide trade association - Brittany Ferries, DFDS, Grimaldi Group, P&O Ferries and Stena Line.Johan Roos, director of sustainability at Sweden's Stena group since 2006, will join Interferry as executive director of EU and IMO affairs in September, working from an office within the Brussels HQ of the European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA).Interferry's Canada-based CEO Len Roueche says: "This is a landmark in our 36-year history and takes us to a new level in raising our influence on the industry's global governance. We need real input on safety and environmental issues to avoid having potentially ruinous decisions dumped on us."We have had some lobbying successes - such as changes to the High Speed Craft Code - through our IMO consultative status and as members of BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping. However, it's been clear for some time that we required dedicated cover of the EU and the IMO in ...

No one was seriously hurt The master of a passenger ferry did not see a dinghy before the boats collided off a NSW central coast beach, the ferry service says.Five people from the three-metre aluminium runabout, including a five-year-old child, were thrown into the water. No one was seriously hurt.The collision between the ferry Silver Spirit, operated by FantaSea's Palm Beach Ferry Service, and the dinghy occurred about 500 metres from Ettalong Beach about 6.30pm.Palm Beach Ferry Service's general manager, Matthew Lloyd, said the ferry had just gone past Half Tide Rocks and was "powering up" as it moved towards Wagstaff Point when the boats crashed into each other."The small dinghy was not visible to the ferry master until it was too late to avoid a collision," Mr Lloyd said in a statement."The crew of the ferry reacted very quickly in deploying floatation devices and all of the people were removed from the water within minutes of the incident."The ferry took those who were rescued to the wharf, where they were assessed by paramedics, a NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said.No one was taken to hospital.Mr Lloyd said his company was co-operating fully with NSW Maritime's investigation into the incident.Palm Beach Ferry ...

All passengers are evacuated safely A passenger ferry transporting approximately 300 passengers was leaving İzmir's Konak dock for Karşıyaka when it hit the lighthouse off of Konak Pier. All passengers were evacuated safely.According to its route, the ferry was supposed to pass in front of the lighthouse but hit it on its starboard side. The reason for its change in route has not yet been determined.After hitting the lighthouse, the ferry immediately began to take on water. Though difficult, Cpt. Abdurrahman Özdemir was able to return the ferry to Konak Pier. The 300 passengers were evacuated with no injuries and deaths resulting from the accident. Police arrived at the scene and kept passengers and passers-by away from the pier.The ferry sank shortly thereafter. The alleged cause of the accident was the locking up of the rudder.Experts said that major factors to consider in the 59-year-old ferry's accident are its age and metal fatigue. Ferries in this condition should be scrapped and replaced with newer models, the experts emphasized.Source: Sunday's Zaman