USCG increases safety requirement for first US flagged cruise liner in many years

NCL’s Pride of America is the first cruise liner in many years to sail under American flag control and came into service in the summer. The vessel has been the subject of discussion in the press due to its flag state and because of its resurrection before completion by NCL, but is also interesting in terms of its life-saving equipment on board.

Pride of America, like the majority of other passenger and cruise vessels, has VIKING life-saving equipment on board with davit launched liferafts installed on the lower decks. USCG's new move was to require additional float free liferafts installed on the top deck.

Float free liferafts are, as their name suggests, designed to float free should the vessel capsize or submerge before the davit launched liferafts are engaged. A standard HRU, hydrostatic release unit, automatically cuts the storage lashings and releases the float free liferaft from on board ship and allow them to float to the surface and be available to passengers. To meet SOLAS requirements, all liferafts must be able to float free.

The reason for the later USCG addition to safety requirements on board the Pride of America was to increase the probability of the liferafts' float free function not being obstructed by the balconies built into the accommodation decks, should the vessel entirely capsize.

As cruise and passenger vessels become increasingly popular and concerns for maritime safety come increasingly under the spotlight, governing authorities are becoming increasingly more aware of the safety issues concerning these now almost floating hotel and holiday complexes. SOLAS regulations require that all passengers and crew must be evacuated within 30 minutes and it is an ever increasing challenge for suppliers and producers of life-saving equipment to design high capacity life-saving equipment able to cope with such demands, whilst keeping these systems discreet.

USCG’s additional requirement for liferafts at the very top of vessels is an interesting development in the continually rising safety requirement in the industry. The question is whether this requirement will be adopted by other regulating bodies, especially in the light of the new super liners already on the drawing boards and being built by ship builders around the world.