SolarJet wins WFSA ferry design competition

The SolarJet design produced by Singapore Collaborative has won the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association’s (WFSA) student competition to design a safe and affordable 300-passenger ferry for use on the Singapore Strait.

Students were required to design a passenger ferry that could safely traverse the Singapore Strait and access terminals in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, accounting for weather patterns and traffic conditions in the Malacca and Singapore Strait.

Designed with a tri-mono hull to increase stability and remove the need for ballasts, SolarJet would have an aluminium-steel alloy frame to provide a lightweight skeletal core that minimises material assembly costs.

Primarily powered by diesel fuel and featuring a malleable screen for solar power and man-made visuals, SolarJet also has a waterjet propulsion system, azipods, bow and stern thrusters, and an internet-powered organic light emitting diode (OLED) screen in the wheelhouse that indicates the presence of incoming ships and weather patterns.

Singapore Collaborative was a group formed from students at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University and Newcastle University in Singapore. 

Second prize went to a team from Indonesia’s Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember Surabaya for its diesel-LNG hybrid aluminium catamaran, Archimaiden.

Innovative features included a straightforward design for easy construction and operation, and a debris monitoring system that stops debris from clogging the ferry’s intakes.

The competition is supported by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.