Continuing the tradition of service provided by New York City Department of Transportation, Staten Island Ferry (SIF) Division, the new Ollis Class Ferry will be a welcome addition to the fleet. Designed to meet the future needs of the ferry system, the design incorporates the latest regulatory and environmental requirements while drawing from many of the best aspects of the existing fleet. Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) worked closely with the entire Staten Island Ferry team to ensure the functionality of the ferries would be as desired.

The design of the Ollis Class Ferry is developed looking forward to meet the future needs for renewal of the Staten Island Ferry fleet. As ridership continues to grow over the life of these new vessels passenger load and unload times at the terminal are likely to increase while the overall schedule must remain the same. Therefore these vessels will be required to operate at greater speeds than any of the vessels in the current fleet. In order to meet this requirement hullform and weight optimizations were performed throughout the design process. As a result, the new Ollis Class Ferry design will be among the fastest Voith Schneider Propeller driven, double-ended vessels in the world. New regulations place ever tighter requirements on the design for safety and environmental requirements. The vessels will be ABS classed to the Rules for Service on Rivers and Intracoastal Waterways and will meet the requirements of USCG Subchapter H including NVIC 9-97 CH-1. The engines will be some of the first to meet the new EPA Tier 4 emissions standards.

This paper follows the design process, from an initial fleet analysis, which included development of a concept design of the vessel among other options, through model testing and completed contract design.

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