Safe Affordable Ferry Design Competition

11th Annual International Student Design Competition

The goal of the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association is to reduce ferry fatalities. The objective of the International Student Design competition is to reduce ferry fatalities by designing safe affordable vessels.

For the past ten years, awards of $10,000 annually have been made to student teams, with the top prize each year being $5000. An impressive roster of internationally recognized maritime professionals act as judges. Awardees have been recognized at international maritime conferences and through media reports.

In the preceding years' competitions, teams were asked to design:

• a passenger ferry for the Bangladesh river system
• an inter-island RoPax for Papua New Guinea
• an inter-island RoPax for Indonesia
• a passenger ferry for Bangkok
• a passenger ferry for the Singapore Straits between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore
• a passenger ferry for the Pasig River of Manila
• a RoPax for the Winam Gulf region of Lake Victoria in Kenya
• a RoPax for the Amazon River in Brazil
• a RoPax for the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India
• an electric ferry for the Pasig River of Manila.

The 2023-2024 Design Competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry will be focused on designing a RoPax ferry for the Niger River in Nigeria.

Student teams that register between now and May 1, 2024, will be provided with the Terms of Reference. Design submissions are due on Thursday, May 30, 2024 by 5 PM ET.

For questions, contact Dr. Roberta Weisbrod, executive director of the World wide Ferry Safety Association (WFSA), at ferrysafety -@- gmail.com.

Please register at https://ferry-safety.squarespace.com/registration.

Note this year we will be accepting only one design submission per school, although there may be multiple registrations. There is no limitation on the size of the team.

Initial registration should be by the team captain and provide captain’s name, academic institution, address, phone number and email address; faculty advisor, name, address, phone number and email address; and other team members' names and email addresses. (Team members may be modified by time of submission of design.) Teams will be provided with a registration number and will receive the detailed Terms of Reference for the vessel to be designed.

9th Annual International Student Design Competition

Team Nawasena ITS won the competition for their ferry Lakshmi. Click here to read about the winning vessel and team in the Ship and Boat International Sept/Oct 2022 issue.

8th Annual International Student Design Competition

COVID makes the design of an Amazon River ferry yet more pressing

The 2020-2021 Design Competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry focus is on designing a Ro-Pax ferry to make stops between Manaus and Tefe on the Amazon River in Brazil.

Click here for the winners.

7th Annual International Student Design Competition

The 2019-2020 Design Competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry focused on designing a Ro-Pax ferry for the Winam Gulf region of Lake Victoria in Kenya. The service will connect the newly revived Port of Kisumu and the coastal terminal at Mbita and other ports, supplementing the new and fairly successful Globology passenger-only ferry service, Waterbus East Africa.

Opening Presentation: WFSA Board Member Captain Nurur Rahman. Click here for the video.

First Place: Hochschule Bremen, City University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Click here for the video presentation.

Second Place: Universität Rostak, Germany. Click here for the video presentation. Click here for the PowerPoint slides (in PDF).

Third Place: Singapore Institute of Technology and Newcastle University. Click here for the video presentation. Click here for the PowerPoint slides (in PDF format).

Earlier Competitions

6th Annual International Student Design Competition

The 2018-2019 Design Competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry was focused on designing a passenger ferry for the Pasig River of Manila, Philippines, as a linear urban ferry, an increasing popular type of ferry system in the progressively urbanizing world.

Winners of the 2018-2019 competition, from left to right: First Place, Vinoth Jawahar, Singapore Institute of Technology and Newcastle University, Singapore. Third Place, Gustavo Gomez Hernandez, Veracruz University, Mexico; Third Place, Li Qian Wen, Shanghai Maritime University. Second Place, Sasmita Adi Nugraha, Surabaya ITS, Surabaya Indonesia. Roberta Weisbrod, Executive Director, WFSA.

2019 Awardees designs:

• First Prize: M/V Pasig Express, Singapore Institute of Technology and Newcastle University. Team Members: Vinoth Jawahar, Qi Miao, Daniel Sukartio. Faculty Advisors: Dr Ivan CK Tam, Dr Abdul Hannan
• Second Prize: M/V Aquilla, Department of Marine Engineering, Faculty of Marine Technology, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember. Nawasena ITS Team: Captain, Sasmita Adi Nugraha. Team Members: Anson Novendra Pradana, Anwar Sahid, M. Faishal Ar Rifqy, M. Faizur Rijal Azhad
• Third Prize: Molly, Shanghai Maritime University. Captain: Li Qian Wen; Team Members: Yao Yi, Huang Chao Chun, Jia De Zheng, Wu Dong Hao
• Third Prize: Passenger Ferry Jarocho, Universidad Veracruzana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Sciences. Team Members: Gustavo Gomez Hernandez, Jesus Isaac Valdez Gayosso, Cesar Martin Escobedo Leon, Luis Andres Sanchez Garrido. Faculty Advisors: Edna D. Rosas Huerta, MAE. José Hernández Hernández, PhD, Mariano A. Hernández Contreras

Results of the 2017-2018 Design Competition

The Fifth Design Competition for a Safe and Affordable Ferry was focused on designing a passenger ferry for the Singapore Strait between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Abstract of the first prize winners' proposal.

Abstract of the second prize winners' proposal.

Abstract of the shared third prize winners' proposal.

Abstract of the shared third prize winners' proposal.

Results of the 2016-2017 Design Competition

For more information, see Winners of the 2016-2017 Ferry Design Competition.

Results of the 2015-2016 Design Competition

This year's challenge was to design a RoPax vessel for Indonesia, the fourth most populous nation in the world.

Results of 2014-2015 competition

Results of 2013 Competition

Winners of the 2013 Design Competition.

Winning team from the University of British Columbia, Canada, 2013.