NYC Ferry Marine Gangways

NYC Ferry Service has been operated by Hornblower since 2016. Their network of ferry routes consists of six routes serviced by 38 vessels connecting 21 piers in all five New York City boroughs on an hourly or 30-minute departure schedule. Originally expected to transport 4.5 to 4.6 million passengers annually, higher-than-expected ridership on NYC Ferry routes led to an expansion. In spring 2018, the annual ridership estimates were revised to 9 million, double the original projection, and a further expansion of the NYC Ferry fleet was announced. With the expansion came a variety of challenges and Jonathan Figueroa NYC Ferry VP of Operations, Facilities, and Support Services reached out to SafeRack for solutions. “Our job is to connect communities so that millions of New Yorkers have access to equitable transit,” he says proudly. Safe access was the top priority for this significant project.
Our job is to connect communities so that millions of New Yorkers have access to equitable transit,” he says proudly. Safe access was the top priority for this significant project.

Customer	NYC Ferry / Hornblower
Location	Brooklyn, New York
Project	Installing marine gangways for maintenance crews to access and service ferries.
Products	16 MarinaStep Gangways
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“We built a state-of-the-art maintenance facility that allows us to take care of the day-to-day maintenance of our fleet of vessels,” explains Figueroa. “Engineering, provisioning, fueling, and maintenance now take place in one location. The only thing missing was a safe and efficient way for operators to access the fleet.” Because traditional maritime gangways are not well suited for getting on and off vessels safely, our team knew MarinaStep high-capacity, high-volume gangways would be the right fit for this application.

“With the press of a button, NYC Ferry operators are now able to lift and lower their gangways without risk of repetitive injuries on the job,” explains Marine Vertical Market Specialist Brian Dieffenderfer. MarinaStep gangways allow maintenance workers to take level steps whether the vessel is moving or not. “They are designed to float so the vessel can move without any movement from the gangway,” says Dieffenderfer. “The gangway stays in position and operators are safer as a result.”

A project of this scale required smooth coordination from start to finish, the logistics of which were made possible by our engineering, design, manufacturing, and installation teams. According to SafeRack Regional Account Manager Tony Dublino, “New York is a complex environment in which to operate,” he explains. “Transportation is moving off the roads and rails and onto what is known in the marine industry as the blue highway. Our turnkey installation made the whole process easier, more efficient, and far more successful for a project of this scope.”

Figueroa agrees, “Traditionally, we would’ve had to source the product from the manufacturer and then find an integrator to take care of the installation. Thankfully, SafeRack offered us everything from design to completion which made it seamless and conducive to the environment we’re working in.”

Providing safe access in marine environments is what we do every day, so knowing we are helping NYC Ferry keep their people safe at work is what keeps us going. “When people reach for our orange handrails, they know they are in a safe environment,” says Dublino. “Our exceptionally high safety standard is what made us a good fit for what NYC Ferry is trying to accomplish here in Brooklyn. They are a center of excellence for safety in the marine industry not just in the US, but globally,” he says. Efficiencies have gone up but most importantly incidents have gone down, and that was the goal.”

We’ve become known as the productivity, safety, and efficiency experts which gives our customers the confidence they need to trust our superior solutions. “We are able to provide relatively complex solutions that ensure that people don’t have to worry about whether or not they are going to get hurt at work,” Dieffenderfer says. “With SafeRack, they know they are going to be okay.”