Ferries: The Buses of the Sea

Out of all marine traffic, it is easiest to overlook the humble ferry. For many communities living around water, they simply a part of everyday life. It is hard to get excited about a commute to work, about delivering goods or about an errand run for essentials. Yet these are exactly the vital services ferries deliver for many around the world. In 2019, the global ferry industry carried 4.27 billion people to their destinations 1. With so much responsibility, it is worth looking into how ferries work, what routes they run, and, most critically, what is done to keep their passengers safe. 

Ferries are a type of passenger craft, mainly used for short distance journeys. They carry people, but also vehicles or cargo. It is difficult to find a ferry journey longer than a day, though they do exist, such as the 30-hour trip from Helsinki in Finland to Travemünde in Denmark 2. Such ferries tend to resemble cruise ships by having cabins on board, as well as bars, shops and restaurants. Most ferries operating around the world, however, are more spartan, as their voyages would at most take several hours. They may only have seating and a small cafe bar with drinks and snacks. It depends on the company, the route and whether the crossing is done during the day or at night. 

The routes ferries run on vary greatly, but they typically cross calmer, more enclosed bodies of water rather than open ocean. This includes seas such as the Baltic and Mediterranean, the English Channel, or harbours such as Sydney Harbour in Australia. Historically, ferries were also used for river crossings, though in modern times, many of these routes have been replaced by bridges. One example of this was the crossing across the River Forth between Edinburgh and Fife in Scotland, which lasted from 950CE to 1964, when it was replaced by the road bridge 3. If a modern ferry operates on a river, it is usually up- and downstream rather than from bank to bank. However, in places where bridges are not practical, ferries persist. Despite being a popular UK holiday destination, a bridge to the Isle of Wight is unfeasible as the channel to the mainland is a busy shipping lane and the geography of the seabed and surrounding coast is unfavourable 4. Without a budget for a tunnel, the ferry is the only option. Ferries can often be a lifeline for remote island communities, such as the Scottish Isles, where they may be the only link to the mainland. Alternatively, they are an excellent mode of transport in a city with many water channels. A good example are Venice’s water taxis, or the largest passenger ferry network in the world in Istanbul, which operates 49 vessels 5 and carried 40 million people in 2023 6.

Ferries come in many shapes and sizes, depending on their use and whether they are only for passengers or a combination of passengers, cars, and cargo. The image that comes to mind when the word “ferry” is said are usually Ro-ro ferries, which stands for roll on, roll off ferries. 

MV Salish in Washington State, a Ro-ro ferry, seen here with car door open as it prepares to dock, 2022. Gordon Leggett / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 . https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2022-04-29_WSDOT_ferry,_MV_SALISH_-_IMO_9618329_-_Coupeville_WA_USA.jpg 

The car deck of aferry on the way to England, 2004. 

Monster4711, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:6berlin.jpg 

These are ferries designed with a door in front and/or back that opens up, revealing a ramp and a large deck for lorries and cars to enter and exit. Strictly speaking, a Ro-ro ferry is for cars and drivers only, with general only small rest areas 7.  Holidaymakers wishing to take cars to Europe or the Scottish Isles will more likely know their cousin, the Ro-pax, which is the name for a ferry designed for cars and passengers in equal measure. These ferries tend to sail on the sea and are often large to accommodate many vehicles and passengers. Small ferries that traverse rivers, bays, or narrow channels can be Ro-ro, but they are uncommon and tend to have a low capacity of maybe a dozen vehicles. 

Steam Packet ferry Manannan on the Isle of Man, an example of a catamaran type ferry, 2010. 

Philphos, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hsc_manannan.png 

Another ferry type are catamarans: twin-hulled boats capable of going extremely fast, allowing passengers to get to their destinations quickly 8. There are also double-hulled boats where the prow and stern can alternate, meaning a ferry can enter and exit mooring without changing direction 9; a useful ability in a small river channel. However, there is technically no restriction on what types of boats can be ferries. As long as the boat fits the route and can carry its designated load, it can be a ferry. 

Ferry ŞH-Küçüksu in Istanbul, an example of a double-sided ferry, 2019. 

Matti Blume, CC BY-SA 4.0,  via Wikimedia Commons.https://commons.wikim 

Regarding safety, ferries are overall a very safe craft, though safety standards vary around the world. There have been notable ferry accidents, such as the Herald of Free Enterprise in 1987, Scandinavian Star in 1990, and MV Estonia in 1994, but these shook the industry because such accidents are so rare. It is, in fact, these accidents that led the International Maritime Organization between 1988 and 1997 to adopt amendments to its safety convention, SOLAS, regarding ferries. These covered, among other things, having indicators for Ro-ro ferry doors to ensure they were properly closed, improved fire safety for these large passenger ships and increasing stability in rough seas 10. Ferries also generally obey the general convention of SOLAS regarding fire safety and lifeboats, at least in the EU where these regulations are heavily enforced 11. 

This may not be the case for less economically developed regions, where safety can be more lax. Poor structural construction of boats, lack of safety measures, overcrowding and going out in unsafe conditions – all measures designed to increase profit - were the most common contributing factors across the seven most dangerous countries to take a ferry, a list which included Bangladesh, the Philippines, and the Democratic Republic of Congo 12. 

A triple-decker ferry, MV Pubali 7, in Bangladesh, 2014. 

Asifsaleheen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikim 

Work is being done in these countries to improve safety. Lloyd’s Register Foundation and Interferry are working in the Philippines on the FerrySafe project to investigate how the country has managed to reduce its ferry fatality rate since 2016. They found that the willingness to change, as well as new, more stringent rules and regulations, combined with stricter enforcement and the need to conform to insurance standards were all factors in bringing the fatality rate down 13. It goes to show that a ferry is much like any other form of transport; it is as safe as people make it. When many people rely on it, however, and pressure is applied, there is a lot that can be improved.

For many around the world, the ferry is an everyday mode of transport. They are an important part of marine traffic, and critical for passenger traffic in countries of every level of economic development. Riding a ferry may not be as glamorous as a cruise ship, nor do they inspire awe in the same way enormous cargo ships do, but they still deserve appreciation. Many of us will set foot on a ferry at some point in our lives. Next time you do, take a moment to appreciate the “bus of the sea” before settling in to your short, comfortable and hopefully safe journey aboard. 

Tallink Shuttle between Helsinki in Finland and Tallinn in Estonia, taken during my travels in August 2024. Photo courtesy of my partner. 

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11. “Why a Tunnel and Not a Bridge?” Solent Freedom Tunnel, https://solentfreedomtunnel.co.uk/tunnel-not-bridge/. Accessed 24 November 2024. 
12. Golden, Abigail, et al. “Trends, Causal Analysis, and Recommendations from 14 Years of Ferry Accidents.” Journal of Public Transportation, vol. 19, no. 1, 2016, pp. 17–27, https://doi.org/10.5038/2375-0901.19.1.2. 
13. Hebbar, Anish, et al. Safety of Domestic Ferries: A Scoping Study of Seven High-Risk Countries. World Maritime University, 2022. b https://commons.wmu.se/lib_reports/73/ 
14. Merrigan, Justin. “How Istanbul Deniz Otobüsleri Delivers Reliability and Comfort.” Cruise and Ferry, 2 May 2023, https://www.cruiseandferry.net/articles/how-istanbul-deniz-otob252sleri-delivers-reliability-and-comfort-1. Accessed 24 November 2024. 
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18. Roos, Johan. “Lessons from Manilla.” Ship & Boat International, May/June 2019, pp. 38–40. https://interferry.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SBI_May-June19_3840.pdf 
19. Lloyd's Register Foundation (2018) Insight Report on Safety in the Passenger Ferry Industry. Lloyd's Register Foundation. doi: 10.60743/VJAJ-H778