Cruise ship safety

[Tony Wilding]

With respect to cruiseship evacuation, we have seen videos of Costa Concordia passengers waiting to embark in the lifeboats, very crowded totally enclosed muster points, with a door to exit to the lifeboat, lucky there was no fire, as smoke could not escape, would be lethal, have not been on board a cruise ship, but most look the same, no clear deck spaces adjacent to lifeboats, has anyone got any views on this, fires are common on big ships, personally i think cruise ship design is too enclosed, it seems basic ship design has been totally forgotten , and hotel design taken over at the expense of safety lessons learnt of years of experience, they have become hotels first and a ship secondly.

[happy daze john in oz]

Yes Tony, internaly they are maybe more hotel than ship, but on the majority the lifeboat evacuation points are on the promanade deck with plenty of space. But to get over 2500 passengers and crew off is a bit of a problem.

[Jim Slattery]

Went on a Cruise last summer with Disney Cruises and as per legislation we had a muster drill before we sailed.

When the alarm sounded we were instructed to make our way to our allocated muster point which was a restaurant on Deck 4 (which was at least the embarkation deck, the other restaurants were on the deck below). The chaos on the stairs caused by people rushing with life jackets in hand in good sized Stair Wells had to be seen to be believed.

The entertainment crew had the task of explaining what actions had to be taken in case of an emergency and whilst I'm sure they have had the necessary training the briefing we received was sketchy to say the least.

The lack of a ships officer being present was definitely a concern. Who knows if what we were being told was accurate.

Putting 2 to 3 thousand people in 4 large rooms is just an accident waiting to happen, especially in the event of a fire.

[Albert Bishop]

The subject has been raised before about where life belts should be stored on cruise ships. Under you bunk may be ok on small ships, but on todays monsters you could be a very long way from your cabin, I still reckon the best place to stow them would be at the lifeboat stations, (Every one going in the same direction in an emergency) They say, room to store so many there would be a problem, but is there any valid reason why inflatable jackets couldn't be used? They take up a lot less space, and if they are good enough for aircraft why not ships? Cheers, Albi.

[vic mcclymont]

When I sailed with U-C Life jackets were stored in the cabins and sufficient were stored for all on board in lockers on deck.
A few years later whilst on a cruise I queried where the life jackets where stored on deck.
The response "It is not a SOLAS requirement" to have additional life jackets stored near the lifeboats or on deck.

[Tony Wilding]

Hi Albert, it would seem then that saving space is more important than saving lives, ? my brother has done a few cruises, he said when there are shore excursions useing the boats its mahem, with people rushing up and down the stairs at the same time, imagine if it was an emergency, people would be trampled to death, the exit speed is regulated by the slowest, lots of elderly people use cruise ships, well, excuses for ships.

[Keith Tindell]

Yesterday in Southampton the 7 PO cruise ships, all embarking and dismbarking, approx 30000 passengers, all trying to find suitcase, taxis etc, apparently it was mayhem.One interesting report on the TV said that one of the ships crews had a protest in USA, they were paid 75p per hour. After the protest they went back to India on leave, and at the end of their leave period, not one of them were re engaged. Of course there would be hundreds more Indians to replace them. KT

[j.sabourn]

Can anyone remember when the present style of Lifejacket was inroduced as mandatory. Seem to recollect when it fisrt came out eveyone thought it was far too bulky. Also there was a bit of a scandal as believe at the time the minister introducing the new regulatory jacket had shares in the manufacturing company. People have short memorys, the old kapock style of jacket sufficed for many years, then bang for some reason good or bad was changed. regards John Sabourn.

[j.sabourn]

Albert, think some of these cruise/tour operators will soon be giving free inflatable suits as soon as step onboard. Could have different designs to suit every occassion, even inflatable pyjamas for those who wear them, Cheers John Sabourn.

[Tony Morcom]

Can anyone remember when the present style of Lifejacket was introduced as mandatory.

A quick Google produced this information John:

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