Safe Affordable Ferry Design Competition

Thirteenth Annual International Student Design Competition For Safe Affordable Ferries

We return to Nigeria for a third time in a row for the 2025-26 Design Competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry. We return because ferry transport in Nigeria is complicated and promising. Please see Maritime Africa: Strength, promise and opportunity and A historic moment for ferry transport in Africa for more information.

The ferry will be designed to carry 200 passengers and their carry-on goods between Lokoja, the growing city at the confluence of the Benue and Niger Rivers, and the market city of Onitsha on the Niger River. For registration information, please click here.

Winner: 12th Annual International Student Design Competition

‘Naija Spirit’ wins WFSA contest for a safe Lagos ferry

By Martin Conway, The Royal Institution of Naval Architects, June 12, 2025

The 12th WFSA student design contest saw the association return to Nigeria, with David Okafor, a naval architect with the Nigerian Navy, again assisting in drawing up the specifications for the design teams. This year’s challenge called for a 200-pax electric ferry capable of navigating Lagos’ waterways, emphasising a 25km route linking Ikorodu, a northeastern business zone, to the CMS transport hub on Lagos Island.

This year’s winning entry was Naija Spirit, a 28m, double-deck aluminium catamaran, designed by Team Black Pearl of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Team Black Pearl was captained by final-year student Md. Safayet Hossain Shishir – who, incidentally, was part of the BUET team that secured second-place in last year’s WFSA River Niger design competition. Click here for the complete story.

Student Innovation: Still Going Strong

Editorial by Martin Conway, The Naval Architect, May 2025

I can’t remember the first time I covered the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association’s (WFSA’s) international student design contest for a safe, affordable domestic ferry, but our report on the 12th instalment of the competition (see pages 30-36) reminds me of the many winners that Ship & Boat International profiled over the past seven to eight years--to the point that the contest became an annual fixture of our Ferries reports. Click here for the complete editorial.

Competitve Spirit

In The Naval Architect, May 2025

Team Black Pearl of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, victor in this year’s Worldwide Ferry Safety Association student design contest, shares how it put together the design for the winning concept for Lagos waterways. Click here for the complete article.

11th Annual International Student Design Competition

The 2023-2024 Design Competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry was focused on designing a RoPax ferry for the Niger River in Nigeria.

The first place winner was the Nawasena ITS team. Second place went to the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology team, and third place went to the Universitas Indonesia team. For more information, click the Student Awards Presentation (a PDF file).

9th Annual International Student Design Competition

Team Nawasena ITS won the competition for their ferry Lakshmi. Click here to read about the winning vessel and team in the Ship and Boat International Sept/Oct 2022 issue.

8th Annual International Student Design Competition

COVID makes the design of an Amazon River ferry yet more pressing

The 2020-2021 Design Competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry focus is on designing a Ro-Pax ferry to make stops between Manaus and Tefe on the Amazon River in Brazil.

Click here for the winners.

7th Annual International Student Design Competition

The 2019-2020 Design Competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry focused on designing a Ro-Pax ferry for the Winam Gulf region of Lake Victoria in Kenya. The service will connect the newly revived Port of Kisumu and the coastal terminal at Mbita and other ports, supplementing the new and fairly successful Globology passenger-only ferry service, Waterbus East Africa.

Opening Presentation: WFSA Board Member Captain Nurur Rahman. Click here for the video.

First Place: Hochschule Bremen, City University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Click here for the video presentation.

Second Place: Universität Rostak, Germany. Click here for the video presentation. Click here for the PowerPoint slides (in PDF).

Third Place: Singapore Institute of Technology and Newcastle University. Click here for the video presentation. Click here for the PowerPoint slides (in PDF format).

Earlier Competitions

6th Annual International Student Design Competition

The 2018-2019 Design Competition for a Safe Affordable Ferry was focused on designing a passenger ferry for the Pasig River of Manila, Philippines, as a linear urban ferry, an increasing popular type of ferry system in the progressively urbanizing world.

Winners of the 2018-2019 competition, from left to right: First Place, Vinoth Jawahar, Singapore Institute of Technology and Newcastle University, Singapore. Third Place, Gustavo Gomez Hernandez, Veracruz University, Mexico; Third Place, Li Qian Wen, Shanghai Maritime University. Second Place, Sasmita Adi Nugraha, Surabaya ITS, Surabaya Indonesia. Roberta Weisbrod, Executive Director, WFSA.

2019 Awardees designs:

• First Prize: M/V Pasig Express, Singapore Institute of Technology and Newcastle University. Team Members: Vinoth Jawahar, Qi Miao, Daniel Sukartio. Faculty Advisors: Dr Ivan CK Tam, Dr Abdul Hannan
• Second Prize: M/V Aquilla, Department of Marine Engineering, Faculty of Marine Technology, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember. Nawasena ITS Team: Captain, Sasmita Adi Nugraha. Team Members: Anson Novendra Pradana, Anwar Sahid, M. Faishal Ar Rifqy, M. Faizur Rijal Azhad
• Third Prize: Molly, Shanghai Maritime University. Captain: Li Qian Wen; Team Members: Yao Yi, Huang Chao Chun, Jia De Zheng, Wu Dong Hao
• Third Prize: Passenger Ferry Jarocho, Universidad Veracruzana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Sciences. Team Members: Gustavo Gomez Hernandez, Jesus Isaac Valdez Gayosso, Cesar Martin Escobedo Leon, Luis Andres Sanchez Garrido. Faculty Advisors: Edna D. Rosas Huerta, MAE. José Hernández Hernández, PhD, Mariano A. Hernández Contreras

Results of the 2017-2018 Design Competition

The Fifth Design Competition for a Safe and Affordable Ferry was focused on designing a passenger ferry for the Singapore Strait between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Abstract of the first prize winners' proposal.

Abstract of the second prize winners' proposal.

Abstract of the shared third prize winners' proposal.

Abstract of the shared third prize winners' proposal.

Results of the 2016-2017 Design Competition

For more information, see Winners of the 2016-2017 Ferry Design Competition.

Results of the 2015-2016 Design Competition

This year's challenge was to design a RoPax vessel for Indonesia, the fourth most populous nation in the world.

Results of 2014-2015 competition

Results of 2013 Competition

Winners of the 2013 Design Competition.

Winning team from the University of British Columbia, Canada, 2013.