In the West, ferries have something of an idiosyncratic, almost folksy image — the province of maritime folk who need to ford rivers or get their fancy Ferrari to some beachside getaway. But for most of the world, these slumbering vessels are merchants of death. On a reporting trip, your humble reporter was once warned that, if he even attempted to venture the river ways to parts of southern Bangladesh, he would never make it back. Ferry sinkings are tragically common in Asia — the Eastern equivalent of the ubiquitous and no less depressing bus plunge.