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comes at a price for us and we have to carry more passengers to maintain the same level of revenue. Fortunately, we’ve generated greater revenue. Part of this is attributable to our ancillary sales — hotels, tours, afternoon teas, etc. — to accommodate deals like this.” Looking forward, Bryan cited fore- casts and reports from the hospitality industry which indicate that the economy may be slow in the short term, but is expected to pick up in the coming years to be back where it had been before the recession hit. “It’s going to get better. We all just have to keep our heads above water until it does,” Bryan said. www.marinelink.com MN 41 Damen, Doeksen Environmentally Friendly Ferry Damen has been tasked with developing the first environmental- ly friendly ferry design for the Dutch shipping company Rederij Doeksen. Based in Harlingen, Rederij Doeksen operates passenger and car ferries between Harlingen and the Dutch Wadden islands of Vlieland and Terschelling. Once the Dutch shipbuilding group and Doeksen have collected all the data, the two partners will analyze the best way an environmentally friend- ly vessel can be developed. The ves- sel will be powered by LNG, a hybrid system using wind/solar energy and other alternative solu- tions. “If it turns out that using a diesel system with a filter is the bet- ter option then this may be consid- ered,” said Henk Grunstra, Damen Product Director. Damen and Doeksen aim to have a detailed design completed by the end of 2011. The sustainable ferry design project is partly funded by the Dutch government (Stimulatie Innovatie Binnenvaart) and by a European Union Interreg – North Sea Region grant (iTRANSFER) which promotes interregional coop- eration. The funding aims to stimu- late connections via the waterways in the North Sea area, with particu- lar attention being paid to sustain- able shipping.
