The sheer size and scale of such ships presents massive challenges for evac.

[Host Mike]

“Insurers and salvors have also spoken about the way in which the sheer size and scale of such ships presents massive challenges for emergency services, evacuation, rescue, and salvage – and we should not have to wait for a major disaster until these concerns are addressed.

“The growth in the size of such ships has also raised questions about their watertight integrity and fire-fighting protection.”

Mr Dickinson added: “We believe that more attention needs to be given to such issues as the adequacy of life-saving appliances, and the quality and quantity of crews and their training and experience in operating these vessels and dealing with emergency situations, including evacuation.”

Nautilus says it is essential that inquiries into the Costa Concordia grounding examine reports of an electrical problem onboard – an issue on which the union raised concern following an explosion and loss of power onboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.

The union urged investigators to examine human factor issues including seafarers’ working hours and adequate manning of the bridge and engine room.

Investigations also need to focus on crew competence and training issues, Mr Dickinson added.

The union is calling for a thorough review of regulations governing the construction and operation of passenger vessels – in particular, standards of stability and “watertight integrity”.

Attention needs to be paid to existing evacuation systems and more innovative systems for abandonment, it also said."

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/world/union-airs-concerns-after-grounding-535904.html

[Host Mike]

"He added: ‘Most new ships have fully-enclosed navigation bridges, and so there is more reliance on high-tech systems - no one knows how to use a sextant any more in the 21st century.’

Mr Ward also said the accident would focus attention on the hull design and stability calculations of modern ships, which have soared in size in recent years to carry up to 6,000 passengers each.

He added: ‘Today's cruise ships have hull plating which is much thinner than ocean liners of yesteryear. From the pictures available, you can see just how much damage can be caused by a gash in the thin hull.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/887385-costa-concordia-are-ship-evacuation-drills-too-lax

[Host Mike]

"As international travel has grown easier, aid agencies and lawmakers alike have frequently warned of the potential for confusion in the wake of international emergencies, as sometimes competing nations or international organizations arrive at a disaster site."

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/nations-hunt-info-italy-cruise-accident-15362497#.TxIXzIHCaSo

[Host Mike]

"According to Nautilus International, the maritime professionals' union, some safety issues have been exacerbated rather than solved, by the shape of modern cruising. "The alarm bells have been ringing with many of us for well over a decade now," says Andrew Linington, Nautilus's communications director. "These ships are floating hotels – skyscrapers, really. The design has been extrapolated from that of smaller ships: they have high sides, a small draught [the depth below the waterline] and are very difficult to manoeuvre in high winds."

Ship design has focused on building ever more upper deck cabins, shopping malls and pools that test stability compared to traditional ocean liners. The Concordia, by some measure the biggest casualty to date, is dwarfed by new behemoths such as the Allure of the Seas, which can carry more than 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crew.

"We believe a lot of basic safety principles are being compromised to maximise the revenue," Linington said.
Marine engineers have long raised questions over the possibility of safe evacuations from bigger ships. The 15 still unaccounted for on the Concordia, which had yet to carry out an evacuation drill, make such fears look prescient.

Multinational crews and passengers exacerbate any problems, Linington said: "People panic in their own language. Safety training is a fraction of what it is on airlines, for example."

Evacuation itself is hazardous enough to have claimed the lives of frailer cruise passengers when the Mikhail Lermontov was wrecked in New Zealand in 1986 and the Achille Lauro burned and sank off Somalia in 1994.

Maritime safety, underpinned by Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) conventions dating back to post-Titanic inquests, has been based on the premise that a ship is its own best lifeboat: that a vessel should head for port after sustaining damage and passengers stay on board as long as possible. Nautilus says events in Italy further throw that principle into doubt.
The International Labour Organisation has long criticised employment standards on ships beyond that of the visible, white officer class. Service crew are often drawn via agencies from developing countries on low-paid contracts, relying on tips. Below deck ratings are typically hired from the Philippines, whose seafaring credentials were last year called into question by the European Maritime Safety Agency."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/15/costa-concordia-not-impregnable-size?newsfeed=true

[NSWP]

Thanks Mike, I heard most of the life boats were unable to be launched because of the angle of the ship in the water.

[Host Mike]

"Senior national secretary Allan Graveson said: "These ships are inherently unstable. Some have heeled over.

"Designers are going for the maximum height they can and putting on as many decks as they can because that's what the customers want and it's a way of maximising revenues."

Robert Ashdown, the European Cruise Council's technical, environment and operations director, dismissed the fears saying cruise liners are "more stable than they have ever been".

"They can stand up to anything the weather can throw at them. They are designed to strict international standards," he said.

"If the damage is severe, the ship should be able to stay afloat for three hours so that an orderly evacuation should take place."

Nautilus said that the sheer number of people on the huge liners, however, raised "serious questions" about the evacuation process.

"Insurers and salvors have also spoken about the way in which the sheer size and scale of such ships presents massive challenges for emergency services, evacuation, rescue, and salvage," general secretary Mark Dickinson said.

Passengers on the Costa Concordia have described the evacuation process as chaotic and experts criticised crew for not getting people to lifeboats quickly enough.

Professor Ed Galea, a safety expert at the University of Greenwich, said: "Had the evacuation process started when the ship was holed we possibly would have seen a very different picture.

"The passengers would have been assembled in 40 minutes, maybe up to 60 minutes, and then they would have been able to board the lifeboats while the ship was still upright."

William Gibbons of the Passenger Shipping Association told Sky News that "safety at sea is paramount.

"All the crew and officers are fully trained in safety procedures.

"Our track record speaks for itself. This type of incident is so rare it is almost entirely unprecedented."

But Nautilus said that investigators should examine staff competence, as well as the manning of the bridge and engine room, and lessons should be learned.

"We believe that more attention needs to be given to such issues as the adequacy of life-saving appliances, and the quality and quantity of crews and their training and experience in operating these vessels and dealing with emergency situations, including evacuation."

With thousands of people on board, many people have also raised concerns about personal safety while on cruises."

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16149985

[Host Mike]

"Questions also loomed about why the Costa Concordia listed so badly after the crash, as the captain tried to bring it closer to the island. Modern ships are built to sink levelly, Mr. Menzies said, by the use of bulkhead doors and pumps that are supposed to be able to be operated remotely. “The worst-case scenario is trying to get non-seafarers off a ship that is capsizing.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/world/europe/death-toll-rises-to-6-in-italian-cruise-ship-accident.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

[Host Mike]

“With size comes safety,” said William Wright, senior vice president of marine operations for Royal Caribbean International and the first captain of Oasis of the Seas. Royal Caribbean operates seven of the largest 10 ships in the world.

Wright said these megaships are wider, more stable, have the latest navigation systems and more watertight compartmentalization than their predecessors.

Michael Crye, executive vice president of Cruise Lines International Association, the industry’s trade association, said that the newer, large ships have better technology to communicate with passengers in case of an emergency, have life jackets in more central locations and carry lifeboats that can be boarded more quickly than prior models.

“As ships have gotten larger, the issues of safety must be planned into these ships,” he said. “Along with bigger ships comes more responsibility to safety.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/grounding-of-the-costa-concordia-raises-concerns-about-the-safety-of-todays-megaships/2012/01/16/gIQA9BTe3P_story.html