My CEO Update for November 2024

Hello Ferry Fans,

It was fantastic to see so many of you in Marrakech at Interferry2024, our 48th annual global conference. Based on survey results and other feedback we have received, we were able to successfully deliver another world-class event for our first foray onto the African continent… despite the long lines at the airport!

In addition to providing some after-conference follow up, in this month’s report I would like to provide you with an overview of our regulatory agenda for the reminder of the year, highlight our recent Operators Policy Committee meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, as well as report on my visit to a local Portuguese operator.

Interferry2024 Marrakech ? Presentation Videos and Event Photo Galleries

As with past conferences, we are pleased to be able to provide our members with the ability to view our entire Speakers Program via this link. We have found that this provides great value to our delegates who would like to see some sessions of the program once again and/or show them to their team as an educational/training initiative. It is also a value-added feature for members who would like to watch the program but were unable to attend our event in Morocco. Videos are available for each session, separated by presentation, and include the Q&A periods. PDFs of the presentations are included where appropriate.

The flash videos from our Platinum and Gold sponsors are also included, so please make sure you have a look at those as well.

Last but not least, the conference photo galleries are also online. The photos include the conference sessions as well as the various conference events. Here’s the link to the galleries for your viewing pleasure.

The Next Couple of Months on the Regulatory Front

During the first week of December, we will be involved in the 109th session of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), supporting further refinement of SOLAS, which is the basis for all maritime safety regulations. Overall, we believe that the safety regulations for international ferry operations, and those in developed countries, are in very good shape. That is one of the reasons we are getting more and more involved in developing ferry safety in Africa and other parts of the world where we still frequently see accidents.

Following the main Safety Committee meeting in December, the IMO sub-committees convene in January through March. Interferry is heavily engaged in the development of new technical requirements for carriage of ‘new energy vehicles’ (e.g. electric and hydrogen cars), but we would also like to stress the importance that training is kept up to date with this development, where we want to make sure that ship crews are familiar with the various risks of the ever-more complex mix of cargoes on our ro-ro decks.

OPC Meeting ? November 14 ? Lisbon

OPC Chair Paul Kyprianou and Interferry’s Regulatory Affairs Director Johan Roos hosted another successful meeting for our senior committee that sets the strategic regulatory direction for Interferry regarding the IMO and the EU. The meeting opened with Maja Markov?i? Kostelac, Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (which is headquartered in Lisbon) who addressed the 16 attendees, followed by a Q&A session. The meeting continued with a full agenda that included updates from Johan and roundtable discussions on: Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems; the IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII); the IMO’s GHG mid-term measures; the IMO’s Carriage of Electric Vehicles; Light Craft Code Modifications; and EES/ETIAS issues.

The last agenda item for the OPC meeting was to agree on Interferry’s role at the next European Shipping Summit 2025 (ESS), which is organized by European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), of which Interferry is a member. As proposed by management, it was agreed that Interferry would host a panel as a side-event to the ESS on March 19th, with the theme “Shore Power offers immediate carbon compliance for the ferry sector – but are we on track?”.

The central focus of the panel will be to highlight our ongoing concerns for the ferry industry including: the availability of enough shoreside power for electric ferries to fully charge batteries; who will pay for the high-power connections (considering that some ports require utility upgrades all the way back to transmission and generation stations); and probably the biggest question of all – how will EU ETS funds collected from the maritime industry go back to the maritime industry in order to make all this happen?

The panel will include a cross section of interested parties and decision makers, including an EU MP (MEP), an EU Commission representative, as well as other complementary industry association representatives, and will be moderated by OPC member Claes Berglund of Stena AB.

It was also decided by the committee to have the next OPC meeting on March 19th in Brussels, with the start time depending on what time of day our panel takes place.

My Visit to TTSL – Transtejo Soflusa ? Lisbon

A special thanks goes to Alexandra Ferreira de Carvalho, President of TTSL – Transtejo Soflusa, for providing me with a tour of their impressive ferry operations on the Tagus River in Lisbon. TTSL’s shift to zero emissions is noteworthy with five vessels already operating solely on batteries and five more to come. We look forward to welcoming TTSL – Transtejo Soflusa as a member in 2025.

Well, that wraps up this month’s report. Once again, it was great to see so many of you in Morocco. I only wish I had more time to stop and chat!

As always, I look forward to your comments and/or questions regarding the conference or anything else Interferry related.

Until next time, take care and stay safe…

Mike Corrigan – CEO, Interferry