PASSENGER RESPONSE TIME DATA-SETS FOR LARGE PASSENGER FERRIES AND CRUISE SHIPS DERIVED FROM SEA TRIALS

Abstract

This paper describes research that was carried-out under the EU FP7 research project SAFEGUARD and presents passenger response time data generated from five full-scale semi-unannounced assembly trials at sea. The data-sets were generated from three different types of passenger ships, a RO-PAX ferry without cabins (RP1), a cruise ship (CS) and a RO-PAX ferry with cabins (RP2). In total, response times from 2366 people were collected making it the largest response time data-set ever collected – on land or sea. The analysis methodology used to extract the response time data and the resultant response time distributions (RTD) is presented. A number of key findings from the data analysis are presented along with three recommendations to modify the IMO guidelines governing ship evacuation analysis, namely; (a) it is inappropriate to use the same RTD for cruise ships and RO-PAX vessels; (b) a new Day Case RTD is suggested for RO-PAX vessels and (c) new Day and Night RTDs are suggested for cruise ships.