A catamaran passenger vessel designed by a team of university students from Germany has been selected as the winner of an international competition initiated by the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association (WFSA).
The first place in the recently concluded Eighth WFSA International Student Design Competition went to the team from Bremen's City University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Bremen) for their design of a 60-metre ferry with innovative safety features including an airbag for additional buoyancy in case of damage as well as an advanced navigation system.
The design also has provisions for features that will help prevent the spread of Covid-19. These features include ventilation with HEPA filters in enclosed spaces.
The WFSA had earlier stated that the winning design will be utilised on a newbuild Amazon River ferry that will ensure improved passenger and crew safety as well as reduced operating costs.
The requirements were for a Ro-Pax vessel that can transport a maximum of 300 passengers plus vehicles and cargo on the Amazon between the Brazilian cities of Manaus and Tefe. Since the one-way journey between the two cities will last approximately 20 hours, the WFSA deemed it necessary for the vessel to have Covid-prevention measures installed as well.
Coming in second place is an aluminium catamaran with solar panels and convertible decks designed by students of the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology in Surabaya, Indonesia. The team from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology came in third place with their catamaran that also boasts LIDAR for detecting riverbed and surface debris, rainwater harvesting equipment, and electric mosquito repellent technology.