200064 The Dangers of Fast Ferries

The Dangers of Fast Ferries
Report No. 200064

This year in the Baltic I had a similar near miss to one which I had 4 years previously. A catamaran fast ferry was racing towards us until we could see right through between the two hulls and see the hills on the other side of the Sound. On another occasion in the same area in dense fog, louder and louder engine noises from a catamaran were heard. She passed between several small sailing boats at the usual high speed, so near that her swell shook all of us considerably. Two years ago as a passenger on a catamaran in the Irish Sea, the captain missed a very small fishing boat only by turning rather hard at the last moment.

Crossing the North Sea this year - again in dense fog - we could only hear the high speed ferry travelling at her usual high speed. She passed right through the shipping lanes without being able to stop at half the visible distance. Twelve hours later a big search was started for a missing sailing boat with four crew on board. Eventually oil and debris was found, suggesting that it had been run down. I do not claim it was the fast ferry but sooner or later one of these fast craft is going to run down a small boat again (as before in the Baltic) or even have a big collision with a larger vessel. In court, these people have the better lawyers and will carry on as before a short while after a court case. Even if nothing happens, their behaviour is threatening. Ashore they would be punished as "road hogs" for dangerous driving.

See also MARS report 200111