Kerry Southern, Operations Manager of the Higher Ferry
What is your role in the company? I am the ferry manager. I have been working on the ferry for almost 21 years. I help with the day to day running of the ferry which includes administration, looking after rosters & fuelling; basically, the everyday issues. I also regularly skipper the ferry and take fares. I work 3 days in the office and I am one of three members of the Dartmouth design team supporting the preparation of the new Higher Ferry which is currently being built.
What do you have to do in the design team? It’s important that the builders know our requirements. It was decided 2 years ago that we would be having a new ferry and all our staff have had some input into what is required. The Dartmouth design team have regular meetings discussing all aspects of the new ferry and Infra-structure and pass this information on to the relevant people, whether It be ferry design issues or slip repair Issues.
There are two main design teams. One supporting in Dartmouth and one at Pendennis in Cornwall.
How many staff are there running the Higher Ferry? There are 8 operators including holiday relief staff plus our engineer, the Director, group Technical Advisor and myself.
How old is the current ferry? It was commissioned in 1960 so nearly 50 years old.
How many vehicles can this ferry take and how many will the new ferry take? At the moment, we can take on average 18 cars but the new ferry will be able to hold up to 32+ cars, which is a big increase. It will have four lanes taking roughly 8 cars per lane
What impact do you think the new Ferry will have on Dartmouth? It will have a huge impact on Dartmouth. The queues to get on the ferry will dramatically reduce due to the size and amount of vehicles we will be able to carry. There will be less congestion throughout the town and it will also make our carbon footprint considerably lower.
How will the new ferry be different to the current one? It will be larger thus able to take more vehicles as well as heavier vehicles of up to 16 tonnes. The ferry will comprise of four lanes and in order to reduce the waiting times we are setting up a system where two lanes can disembark while the other two can embark the ferry making it a quicker crossover period. This way we can hopefully keep up to our usual eight crossings per hour and keep the queues down to a minimum.
Being grounded is a problem that can happen, how will you avoid this when using a larger ferry? There are plans for work to be done to the river bed in order for us to cross with ease and without getting grounded when the tide is out. The ferry will be run on wires and hydraulically operated bull wheels.
What other problems occur while running the current ferry? In some tide conditions and in south westerly winds, the ferry can be taken off-course which is then difficult to control as this ferry is run on paddles. We shouldn’t have these problems with the new ferry as it has four bow thrusters (two on each side) so we can control the ferry more easily during bad weather.
Where is the ferry being made and where will this one go when it is surplus to requirements? The new ferry is being built in Holland by a company called Ravestein; it will then be towed to Pendennis in Cornwall where it will be fitted out (engines, generator, electrics, fuel tanks etc), and then towed to Dartmouth in June 2009. The old ferry will be taken out of service and Pendennis will be taking her to Falmouth where she will eventually be scrapped.
First Published September 2008 By The Dart
