Are ferries a safe way to travel?

The simple answer is: they are generally very safe. In fact, ferries are normally considered one of the safest means to travel in Europe. In fact, the European Union (EU) has applied certain regulations concerning safety on passenger ferries (ro-ro) with which all operators operating in European ports should align.



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Each year somewhere between 800 and 1000 people die in ferry disasters according to Roberta Weisbrod, the executive director of the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association. In the developed world, ferries carrying passengers are relatively safe as we have higher safety standards than the developing world.

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More than 130 people — men, women and children — lost their lives when the car ferry Princess Victoria sank off the Co Down coast on January 31, 1953. Many of those lost to the sea that day were residents of Belfast, along with the many crew members whose homes were in port towns of Larne and Stranraer in Scotland.

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The golden rule is, something will sink if it's heavier than the water it is displacing. Therefore, a bowling ball would sink, but a football would float. In the case of a ferry, gravity pushes down on the boat, but buoyancy helps it stay afloat as it's not as heavy as the space it's taking up.

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On Oct. 20, 1976, the worst ferry disaster in the history of the United States occurred on the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish. Seventy-seven lives were lost.

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It affects millions of people annually, during all kinds of water travel (and all types of weather)—from simple, small boat rides on a river to large cruises. Many travelers may never experience seasickness symptoms, while others feel ill during a simple ferry ride on totally calm seas.

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