How ferries work

Passengers aboard a ferry at the Likoni  Channel. [File, Standard]

Have you ever wondered how ferries work? What keeps this huge 500- tonne marine vessel loaded with some 1500 persons, 60 to 100 cars and lorries, bicycles and other cargo afloat?

Well, they do that with a little help of the physics principle of density and buoyancy.

Let’s start by understanding what ferries are. A ferry is a specially constructed vessel that brings passengers and property from across one shoreline of a waterbody to another, making contact with a thoroughfare at each terminus.