Ferry safety project to test weather warning prototype

A prototype satellite-based radio messaging system for relaying weather warnings in remote areas is set to be tested as part of the Interferry/IMO joint initiative to reduce ferry fatalities in developing nations by 90%.

Under a ten-year agreement signed in 2006, the initiative is being piloted in Bangladesh, where communication of hazardous weather alerts is among four priorities identified for trial projects. In the first of these projects, a classroom-based crew training course is being delivered in May for further development following preliminary testing.

The weather project is also due to start in the near future and follows an approach by Interferry, the global trade association, and the US meteorological community. Through a USAID-funded grant from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research is to study weather warnings to ferries on the domestic trade in Bangladesh, where the lessons learned could help to improve marine and coastal alerts in other countries with similar needs.

A key component of the plan involves Bangladeshi ferry operators pilot testing the Chatty Beetle alert device. The portable, battery-powered, global messenger has been developed by RANET (Radio/Internet), a collaboration of national meteorological services working to improve weather transmissions in rural and remote communities.

Often it is not feasible to run communications systems round the clock in such areas because many high frequency rigs and satellite systems depend on solar arrays, which may not store enough energy, or generators that are too expensive to run through the night.

The carry-case Chatty Beetle can receive warning messages anywhere in the world independent of terrestrial infrastructure or external power supply ? its batteries operate for up to 36 hours in standby mode. With two-way pager capability, incoming messages trigger visual and audible warning cues. Trials of the system in Bangladesh would fall within an extended international pilot scheme being launched by RANET, lasting a minimum of nine months, for which it is distributing 60 prototype units to partner hosts in Africa, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean by the end of May.

Meanwhile the crew safety awareness training material, a teaching manual with visual aids, is moving closer to being piloted in Bangladesh following feedback on testing of the initial package produced in conjunction with specialist company Videotel Marine International. The material has been reviewed and revised with input from all parties, with the Bangladesh shipping directorate suggesting the addition of animated footage depicting actual incidents as a means of highlighting safety issues to crew who often have a lower rate of literacy.

Currently the course programme covers six text and graphics modules, intended for delivery over two half-days. Interferry members contributed to the introduction and sections on stability, fire and dealing with people, while Videotel sent a consultant to the country to prepare two site-specific modules ? Know Your Vessel and Weather & Waterways.

IMO and Videotel have each contributed $30,000 for this phase of the programme, which will be sent to the shipping directorate in May ready for translation into Bengali, further testing and wider implementation. However, funding is still required to activate the planned nationwide series of courses, involving hiring of tutors, development of a testing regime, certification and the logistics of course delivery.

Action on the two other pilot schemes suggested for Bangladesh, focussing on overcrowding and vessel design, is in the formative stage with discussions taking place on a pre-ticketing system and hydraulic steering. Beyond the specific pilot projects, major progress has been achieved in related areas as a result of the collaboration between Interferry, the IMO and the Bangladeshi authorities. Among measures already implemented, the shipping directorate has introduced text messaging as an interim solution to providing weather alerts.

The directorate has also consolidated vessel inspection, survey and certification in one agency to enhance accountability and now ensures that accident investigation is openly carried out and reported. Assisting these steps, the IMO has secured Republic of Korea donor funding to establish a national database of vessel and crew registration, and has also conducted a UK-funded Flag State Implementation workshop.

Significantly, in a foretaste of how the Bangladeshi experience can eventually be rolled out to other nations, a ferry safety working group was convened in Indonesia in late 2007 in response to a request for IMO technical assistance in the nation?s domestic ferry sector following a number of casualties.