Opportunities for Waterjet Powered Ferries

 

Rapidly increasing urban populations provides some fantastic opportunities for ferry operators and builders around the world. Growing populations means higher commuter traffic, with many cities now have more people commuting into them than actually living in them. 

The flow on effects of this are increasing pressure on roading and transport services, longer commute times, increased levels of pollution, higher worker stress levels, increased business costs and lower productivity. 

But cities situated on harbors and large rivers, or with islands and peninsulas close by, have the opportunity to benefit from ferry transportation both with the local commuter population and tourism. New York, Lisbon, Auckland and Hong Kong are all good examples of cities with strong existing or expanding ferry services. There is strong use of waterjet propulsion in all four cities, and in other Asian coastal and river cities we believe there is great potential for wider use of waterjet propulsion.

Consider each city example individually…

# New York - unique in US cities in that users of public transport out number people using private forms of transportation. Ferry services in New York have been operating for over 200 years, with tens of millions of passengers using the ferry services annually.  Today New York has a mix of public and private operators, including Staten Island Ferry, New York Waterways, SeaStreak and New York Water Taxi – with many of the vessels using waterjet propulsion.

# Lisbon, Portugal, has an intensive network of ferry services across the river, despite a major bridge link for both rail and road traffic. Even a car ferry service has survived the arrival of the bridge. Soflusa and Transtejo, the two main ferry services linking many of the cities along the southern and Northern banks of the Tagus, work in with rail and other passenger services.

Both of these operators have added new high speed ferries to their fleets in recent years - 11 new vessels powered by HamiltonJet waterjets – but they also operate older slow speed ferries.

# Auckland, New Zealand has a fast growing commuter population and major infrastructure issues with roading and rail. Ferry services are becoming more popular across all parts of the harbour, with most operations using smaller (less than 100 passengers) high speed catamaran ferries with fast transit and turnaround times.  Smaller ferries using waterjet propulsion are ideal for Auckland harbour which is quite shallow. Waterjets allow the boats to operate outside the main shipping channels to shorten the route – thus speeding up transit time and reducing operator costs.

# Hong Kong has an overabundance of ferries plying its waters, connecting HK island, the Kowloon Peninsula, the Outlying Islands, more than 20 mainland ports, and Macau. In 2005, passenger throughput for the Mainland was about 6.6 million, and for Macau about 12.6 million. These passengers commuted on the world’s largest fleet of high speed ferries, including jetfoils and waterjet powered catamarans.

All four of these city examples have reacted to several trends which have emerged in the ferry industry in recent times…

# Demand for high speed services to better cater for the commuter market.

# Vessels with low wash characteristics to reduce coastal erosion and environmental damage to shore and seabed

# Passengers have become more discerning – demanding improved facilities and comfort levels

# Increased ferry regulation and the need for better safety features in the vessels

# Increased variation in passenger loads throughout a day – on some transits the vessel will be fully laden, while on others there might only be half load or less. This could be due to seasonal fluctuations, weekday/weekend travelers, holiday travelers, time of day, route taken etc. Fluctuating loads can affect the efficiency and performance of a vessel, with greater economic impact the larger the ferry.

For all these trends, waterjet propulsion offers the greater benefit to the ferry operator and passenger. It is important to remember that waterjets are not new technology – they have been used successfully for over 50 years and are well proven to offer increased performance in many types of vessels and situations.

Waterjets are well proven to excel in the hardest working conditions – operating long hours every day and thousands of hours each year with minimal service, in places as far removed as Nigeria and the North Sea.

The design of waterjets continues to be developed, improving their efficiency, reliability, speed performance and power. They also offer several important benefits over conventional propellers – particularly in ferry operations…

# Less noise and vibration means improved comfort for passengers and less fatigue on the hull and fittings due to vibration.

# Safer operation as they allow a boat to turn and brake very quickly to avoid collision. What’s more, the impeller is protected inside the waterjet rather than being exposed below the hull, meaning there is very little chance of damaging the drive train in the event of grounding or collision with debris.

# Waterjet efficiency is at least as good, if not better, than propellers at over 25 knots, and as speeds increase, waterjet efficiency gains over propellers increases further – mainly due to the fact that the additional appendage drag of struts, rudders etc associated with propellers is absent from flush mounted waterjets.

# The shallow draught of waterjet powered vessels is ideally suited to busy island and river ferry routes, allowing a ferry to safely access more areas and traverse shallower waterways. This may bring opportunities for new ferry routes and reduce costs for dredging of harbours and ferry terminals.

# With the waterjet outlet above the waterline, there is minimal disturbance below the surface and ferry wash is reduced.

# Waterjets are very simple, with no exposed propulsive gear, few moving parts, inboard hydraulic components, robust construction and strong corrosion prevention. As a result they will operate reliably with very little down time for repair and service. 

# Manoeuvrability with waterjets is unsurpassed for high speed propulsion systems. Tighter turns, zero speed turning and sideways tracking, including using the drives to hold the boat sideways against a dock are all waterjet characteristics.

# Waterjets allow for more propulsive flexibility, particularly when used in triple or quad installations. The absence of underwater appendages means that, unlike propeller systems, if one drive breaks down or is turned off it will not cause any significant additional hull drag. This gives the operator a great deal of propulsive flexibility to operate at reduced costs.

# Waterjets can also be used as a loiter or boost system together with propellers. Loiter jets provide excellent slow speed manoeuvrability and unload the main propulsors, increasing engine life. Boost jets increase top speed and acceleration whilst reducing the torque required to drive the main propulsors.

# Waterjets can also be used as a loiter or boost system together with propellers. Loiter jets provide excellent slow speed manoeuvrability and unload the main propulsors, increasing engine life. Boost jets increase top speed and acceleration whilst reducing the torque required to drive the main propulsors.

In conclusion there is no doubt there are many opportunities for ferry services to improve and increase around the world. Emerging Asian economies are likely to benefit from these more than anywhere else in the world, and from all parts of the ferry “supply and demand chain” – commuters, tourism ventures, ferry operators in Asia and shipyards in Asia, which will benefit from building vessels for the local market as well as for operators around the world.

The clear trends happening in the fast ferry sector indicate that waterjet propulsion will offer more additional cost and performance benefits for these ferry operations than conventional forms of propulsion.