with Brett Jardine
GM, CLIA Australasia
Safety at Sea
THE cruise industry is a heavily regulated industry with safety as the top priority.
In fact, cruising is one of the safest forms of travel among all forms of passenger transportation – including walking.
Cruise ships are designed and operated in compliance with strict requirements of international law and follow an extraordinary number of rules to protect passengers & crew while onboard.
Captains and all crew undertake extensive and ongoing training including drills for emergency situations and ship evacuations.
The average cruise ship today carries around 2,700 pax and 800 crew, typically has five fire fighting teams, 4,000 smoke detectors, 500 fire extinguishers, 25km of sprinkler piping, 5,000 sprinkler heads and 10km of fire hose.
Minimum safety requirements for cruise ships include life boats, life rafts and life jackets for every person onboard as well as additional capacity.
Life boats must be capable of being loaded, launched and manoeuvred away from a ship within 30 mins of a Captains order.
Safety drills are now required to be held prior to a ships departure from port and can be conducted in multiple languages.