Abandon ship drill change?

[veshengro]

As Cruise ship size and passenger numbers seem to be forever increasing, perhaps a more rapid drill to swinging out Lifeboats in a major emergency is worth developing. Getting passengers aboard lifeboats even as a drill is a real pantomime, I've experienced it a couple of times, and we were safely alongside a Quay...

 

[LittleSister]

Is there any particular need to save them? There doesn't seem to be any shortage of cruise ship passengers.

 

[Sandy]

That looks bl00dy terrifying. Does the inventor have any idea of the demographics that have the cash to go on cruise ships and osteoporosis incidence amongst those passengers?

 

[Stemar]

Is there any particular need to save them? There doesn't seem to be any shortage of cruise ship passengers.

There would be if a couple went down, taking their passengers with them

 

[RunAgroundHard]

That looks bl00dy terrifying. Does the inventor have any idea of the demographics that have the cash to go on cruise ships and osteoporosis incidence amongst those passengers?

I have two experiences of the cascade evacuation system. The first is training and they work very well, everyone descends quickly into the life raft. The trick is not to climb down but allow yourself to slide down letting gravity do the work. I can imagine a bunch of untrained, geriatrics causing a major restriction and blocking the whole escape process for everyone behind them. Perhaps the passenger ferry style is a better design, but it looks the same. n The second experience was major gas release on a Russian gas platform. The time limit for evacuation is 45 minutes from sounding the alarm to last person off. It took over 4 hours using this device. All the Norwegian platforms have them because there is a high probability that the seas will be too rough to launch lifeboats, in their waters. Having said that, offshore Newfoundland in hurricane conditions, the Ocean Ranger semi submersible managed to launch two of its lifeboats, as the semi submersible listed to a critical angle. One was lost, the other managed to drive off. As the lifeboat approached a standby vessel to transfer passengers the doors were opened and the lifeboats got swamped and sunk in the horrendous seas. The doors may have been damaged anyway as no one on the standby vessel remembers seeing them closed. The semi submersible was found floating upside down, all lifesaving lost.

As for drills loading life boats with passengers, if it involves the lifeboats swung out on davits and lowered to a boarding boarding station, no way. I have been involved in three incidents where the release mechanisms have released and the boats fell killing the occupants. If boarding is down with the lifeboats in their normal position and the station is set up for boarding, with the safety lines secured, maybe. Most will forget within the hour, so even then I would not bother. Different on a vessel with a permanent crew, even then, on my drillships with 200 personal we drill boarding life rafts once a year. otherwise its just mustering at the lifeboat station.

 

[Stemar]

Maybe I'll take our life jackets next time I take Brittany Ferries

 

[westernman]

Didn't they stop doing real lifeboat drills on commercial ships such as tankers and box ships as more people were killed during those exercises that were killed by ships sinking etc?