Preliminary techno-economy study on application of fast ferries to West Baltic routes

In the paper, at first, South-West Baltic Sea environmental and transportation conditions are described. Then a present situation in the passenger and vehicle transportation is overviewed based on the situation of Polish and foreign ferry companies. The techno-economical considerations for the passenger/car ferry for Szczecin-Malmoe route are later discussed. Then main particulars of various craft types are proposed. The safety and ecological problems are overviewed in the final part of the study. Conclusions and some remarks for future work are given at the end of the paper.