Ever since the Herald of Free Enterprise capsized and sank with the loss of almost 200 lives more than 25 years ago, the ferry industry has been acutely aware of the potential vulnerability of the through-deck design which is at the very core of its efficient operation.
So when P&O Ferries brought its two huge ferries into service two years ago as the largest on the Channel, it was the built-in safety features of the Safe Return to Port (SRtP) standard that were most highly prized, even though the vessels were also very green and economic to run.
John Garner, fleet director of the company, explains: “I suppose that in some company boardrooms, volunteering to pioneer new design standards when commissioning new ships would be a tough sell. I had to be clear that we would encounter significant new technical challenges and an increase in build costs which was difficult to quantify.”
The SRtP requirements, drawn up by the International Maritime Organization, are that in the event of a casualty, basic services are to be given to everybody on board and certain systems must remain in operation to facilitate a return to port. Spirit of Britain and Spirit of France, which cost a combined Euros 360 million, were the first ferries in the world to have the standard.
Garner explains that an added complication arose because the system was introduced by the company ahead of the compliance date. “The safety ethos of P&O Ferries was that we would not seek to be ‘rule beaters’ for a period of one year and then operate ships of a lower standard for the next 24 years. We saw the opportunity to make a significant safety improvement, so we did.”
The problem was that at that time, nobody was quite sure what the new standard would be. “I see it as an example of how we can choose either to work to the letter of statutory requirements or embrace the spirit of them,” says Garner, who is also a great believer in developing staff beyond the statutory requirements of the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping.
He argues that, quite apart from improved safety, staff improvement brings other advantages. “We have a vested interest in the professional development of our people beyond their certification requirements. Our role is to help them raise their skills to another level so they gain expertise and experience and at the same time improve their job satisfaction and inclination to stay with the company and recommend us to others.”
As a result, P&O Ferries has also embraced maritime resource management training. Bridges and engine-rooms, he says, are managed most effectively by teams of people working closely together rather than by an individual, where there is the risk of a single point of failure.
A somewhat spectacular safety development is also part of the mix at the company, says Garner, comprising the abandonment of davit-launched lifeboats in certain vessels in favour of aircraft-style chutes – ‘dry-shod evacuation’, in the jargon of the industry. In brief, passenger evacuate from a position under cover down the chutes and onto life-rafts. He and other staff of the company cut their teeth on large high-speed craft where this form of evacuation is the norm and is incorporated into the High Speed Codes.
“When we came to convert two large freight ships into multipurpose vessels, it was natural for us to challenge the convention of davit-launched lifeboats and to propose dry-shod evacuation systems, drawing on our fast ferry experience.”
Garner adds: “I suppose it would have been easier to follow the traditional lifeboat route. But we saw a better way, made our case and then fitted 100 per cent dry-shod evacuation when we converted the Pride of Kent and Pride of Canterbury. We have carried this forward to our new Spirit-class ships, Spirit of Britain and Spirit of France.” So the two biggest vessels on the Channel, at more than 47,000 tons, are not fitted with lifeboats, only life-rafts.
Head-to-head rival DFDS, which has just combined its Channel operations based in Dover with its North Sea business run from Newcastle, also puts great emphasis on the quality of its staff. Marine standards superintendent, Stephen Fairlie, says every department, both ship and ashore, has operating procedures in place to ensure the safe, secure and efficient movement of high volumes of passengers and freight vehicles.
“All DFDS staff are familiar with and fully trained in these procedures,” says Fairlie. “They are also trained to implement contingency plans to enable them to react quickly and efficiently should a situation arise outside of normal day-to-day operations.” Bad weather, port and ferry delays and high volumes of traffic are the sort of situations that demand special action, he says.
Route planning also plays a part in the safety regime. “We have been involved in planning route navigation around new wind farm developments in the North Sea. This includes working with wind farm planners to outline potential navigation risks and ways to mitigate them.”
Ship design has an important part to play: “Some of our ships, such as the D-class vessels on the Dover-Dunkirk route, have been specifically designed for the routes they operate on. We carefully select each vessel on all our routes to ensure they are able to accommodate the traffic in a safe and efficient manner, including the ships’ ability to moor safely at departure and destination ports.” The company works closely with industry bodies across Europe to address industry issues and legislation and develop and implement safe and efficient procedures.
Brittany Ferries operates on the western part of the English Channel as well as to Ireland and Spain. Frederic Pouget, the main board director responsible for the fleet and operations, says drive-through ferries are now very much safer than in 1987 because of much tighter Safety of Life at Sea regulations and also later provisions in the so-called Stockholm criteria which grew out of the Estonia sinking in 1994 when 800 people died (four times the number in the Herald) with no obvious reason for the disaster.
“These criteria are different according to the trade area and the sea condition,” explains Pouget. “A consequence of these rules has been to amend the design of newbuildings and also to retrofit existing vessels by adding sponsors (loading platforms) and an additional watertight bow door totally disconnected from the original door.”
On the question of route planning for greater safety and comfort, especially in the holiday season, he says any route on a given day will be planned by the master to give passengers the best crossing. “We have recently amended our track through the Ouessant Islands (off western Brittany) to provide a smoother ride and reduce fuel on a shorter route.” On the Spanish route, he says, the reputation of the Bay of Biscay as being rough is grossly overstated and it is relatively rare that crossings to and from Spain are delayed because of this factor during the holiday season.
The mix of passengers and freight changes according to the time of year, says Pouget. “Our aim is to have every ship depart full. Therefore in summer when passenger volume is up we carry proportionately fewer freight units and vice versa in the winter. As far as safety is concerned we have very tight controls on the transport of anything which could be hazardous for passengers, but most freight and passenger traffic mixes well.”