. High speed craft Until recent years passenger high speed craft have been small in size and number, and confined to a limited number of short routes. Today all that has changed. Technology and investment have seen a dramatic growth in both craft size and area of operation, as well as extension into the cargo sector. Significant reductions in ferry passage times have been welcomed by the travelling public to such a degree that the worldwide demand for high speed craft has expanded impressively. Happily, the high speed sector has an excellent safety record to date, but it is recognised by operators that only the highest standards of craft maintenance and crew training will allow that record to stand. Likewise, governments have accepted their responsibility for keeping pace with new developments, and IMO is nearing completion of a revision of its High Speed Craft Code. ICS has participated fully in the discussions, anxious to ensure both that the Code will provide a period of regulatory stability and that the scope for continuing innovation in a still developing industry is not unduly constrained. .