Little Ferry Co crew staying connected

By Sarah Cameron

The crew at Little Ferry Co use a closed Facebook community—by invite only— to keep each other abreast of safety hazards, information and new ideas. We spoke to skippers Mark Loader and Bob Larkman for details.

This method of keeping everyone in the loop is dependent on mobile phone coverage, but this isn’t an issue for the skippers of Little Ferry Co, which operates well within the metropolitan area of Perth. The two skippers explained that this novel way of communicating is so effective because each skipper has to like new posts to show that they have seen them, ensuring that everyone gets across new information being communicated.

Little Ferry Co skippers: Mark Loader (left) and Bob Larkman.

‘If one of us post on our Facebook community page it’s there for reference, so you can scroll back and find past information—it’s fantastic,’ Bob said.

The skippers said they use their Facebook community page to share a range of things, from safety hazards, to weather warnings and changes to depth and navigational markers.

‘Any navigational warnings, temporary notices for mariners—skippers don’t tend to go and read those—we put all that information on our Facebook community page and everyone acknowledges it,’ Mark said.

‘Anything new that comes up we just go on Facebook and say “Hey guys, there’s a marker a bit further out than it was because of the boat show”, or “It’s very shallow at Claisebrooke Cove, so you need to go slow”.’

‘Also, when the bridge and river closed because of the building of the Matagarup Bridge—linking the Optus stadium to East Perth—we posted the procedures for radioing the Matagarup Bridge pilot when we passed through,’ Mark said.

Bob added that they check the weather, tide and wind each day and log a record on the Facebook community page so skippers know what the conditions are going to be for the journeys.

They also use the community page to brainstorm procedures to address safety issues.

‘An example is coming up with a new procedure via our community page of calling other nearby vessels using VHF radio to let them know we are passing by,’ Bob said.

‘The electric motors in our ferries are silent and other operators don’t hear us coming, so calling nearby operators reduces the risk of other vessels backing into us at the quay for example,’ he said.

The skippers also use the page to update themselves about the information they provide to passengers.

‘We thought the Causeway bridge was built in 1846 but we realised it was actually built in 1843 so we put that on the Facebook community page.’

From: Working Boats, April 2019