Addressing safety challenges in cold water cruising
Press release April 2007
The rise of cold water cruising
The cruise line industry is increasingly seeing more specialist destinations – away from traditional tropical and warm waters. A newer type of clientele is choosing destinations such as Canada, the Polar Regions and the Baltic Sea around St. Petersburg when the winter sea ice relents. This move brings with it different issues in passenger safety.
Challenges of cold water rescue
In contrast to cruising in tropical waters, sailing in cold waters presents different challenges in rescue situations. The effect of low temperatures and hypothermia is a critical issue for people who evacuate into the water. Within minutes, blood rushes away from the extremities making evacuees unable to even grab onto lines or haul themselves up using ladders or the like. People can become hypothermic in less than an hour, depending on their clothing, size and level of fitness, and expected survival time can be just 3 hours in 15°C water.
The problem is escalated as passenger numbers increase, potentially rendering many traditional methods of passenger retrieval too slow to avoid hypothermia and resulting loss of life. In the time it takes to rescue hundreds or maybe even thousands of waterborne evacuees using a MOB boat or even a rescue vessel, hundreds of evacuees could potentially die from the effects of hypothermia before being rescued from the water. A lifejacket will keep them afloat but it won't offer much protection from the cold.
Authorities are beginning to recognise the potential rescue problem.
As the Baltic Sea and St. Petersburg rise in popularity, Russian authorities are demonstrating that they take passenger safety seriously, and are addressing the problem of mass evacuation from cold water.
The Russian state owned company, Rosmorport, is installing VIKING evacuation slides on their new ice breakers, the first of which, the Moskva is due for delivery from the Baltiyski Zavod yard in St. Petersburg this year. During the winter the vessels will serve as ice breakers, and in the summer months when cruise vessels sail into St. Petersburg the ships will act as standby rescue vessels.
Should the unthinkable happen and a large number of passengers evacuate into the cold water, the Moskva will launch the VIKING evacuation slide (VES). The large platform at the base of the slide makes VIKING's VES system perfect for the job. Evacuees will be rescued from the water and will be able to pull themselves up the slide using ropes that run its entire length. A large number of people can be evacuated from the water much faster than by MOB boat – critical in areas where water is cold throughout the year. The slide can even be deployed in very heavy weather conditions, not uncommon in cold water areas.
Protecting hypothermic evacuees from cold shock
Even in high summer, the sea temperature around St. Petersburg and the Gulf of Finland is only around 16°C. Waterborne evacuees can become hypothermic in just 1-2 hours (depending on individual weight, size and fitness). It is critical that those suffering from hypothermia remain as horizontal as possible to avoid cold shock.
The slide system from VIKING for the Moskva is equipped with stretchers and winches that allow evacuees to be hoisted up the slide in a lying position to help prevent cold blood from the extremities reaching inner organs that can potentially cause heart failure.
International focus after the Sea Diamond struck rocks and sank
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is currently discussing the issue of mass rescue from evacuated ships, and the subject is increasingly the matter for discussion after the cruise vessel, the Sea Diamond, struck an underwater volcanic reef off the Greek island of Santorini and sank. It took local fishermen, coast guards, nearby ferries and the Greek military three hours to evacuate the vessel, which finally sank 15 hours after hitting the submerged rim of the ancient volcano.
In cold waters, such slow rescue by small vessels may not be an option as the risk of hypothermia and poor conditions may limit survivability. It can only be hoped that large organisations such as IMO (their sub-committee on ship design and equipment is expected to outline a draft proposal by 2008) and national authorities will address the issue and begin to follow the example of the Russian authorities and their adoption of VIKING's evacuation slide as rescue equipment.
Technical details:
1st vessel
| Company: | Rosmorport |
| Vessel name: | Moskva |
| Vessel type: | Multi purpose vessel
(Winter: Ice Breaker Summer: Rescue Vessel) |
| Flag: | Russia |
| Homeport: | St. Petersburg |
| Area of engagement: | Gulf of Finland |
| Yard: | Baltiyski Zavod, St. Petersburg |
| Built year: | 2005-2007 |
| Length: | 116m |
| Breadth: | 26.5m |
| Draft, design: | 8.5m |
| VIKING supply: | 2 x VIKING VES-ED MOR
(VIKING Evacuation Slide as Means of Rescue)
Each consisting of;
- Single track slide with 1x50 pers. platform.
- Hydraulic hoisting winch with Special stretcher
4x16DK liferafts |
| VIKING delivery: | November 2006 |
 | |
| 2nd vessel | |
| Company: | Rosmorport |
| Vessel name: | Sankt-Petersburg |
| Vessel type: | Multi purpose vessel
(Winter: Ice Breaker Summer: Rescue Vessel) |
| Flag: | Russia |
| Homeport: | St. Petersburg |
| Area of engagement: | Gulf of Finland |
| Yard: | Baltiyski Zavod, St. Petersburg |
| Built year: | 2006-2008 |
| Length: | 116m |
| Breadth: | 26.5m |
| Draft, design: | 8.5m |
| VIKING supply: | 2 x VIKING VES-ED MOR
VIKING Evacuation Slide as (Means of Rescue)
Each consisting of;
- Single track slide with 1x50 pers. platform.
- Hydraulic hoisting winch with special stretcher
4x16DK liferafts |
| VIKING delivery: | September 2007 |
| |
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