By
Alex Smith |
Foreship’s Project Hygiea Covid-19 passenger vessel response plan has been deployed on an undisclosed cruise ship in its return to sailing. The four-step plan has been verified by classification society Bureau Veritas as being in line with its risk assessment strategy.
The plan aims to limit the presence, spread and potential impact of Covid-19 and other pathogens on ships through four primary measures – interception, prevention, mitigation and evacuation. Solutions are identified to enable implementation onboard and onshore, after which engineering work begins. This is then followed by installation, commissioning, and verification.
“Bureau Veritas has a thorough risk assessment process based on stringent criteria,” said Andreas Ullrich, global market leader of passenger ships & ferries for Bureau Veritas. “In these unprecedented times, our high standards are perhaps more important than ever in helping clients and stakeholders reduce risk and increase safety margins. We are pleased to report that Foreship’s Project Hygiea has fulfilled our requirements from a classification certification perspective to be able to provide a highly effective and important service to the cruise sector.”
Project Hygiea follows the International Maritime Organization’s advice on restarting cruise operations, which recommends tailor-made Covid-19 management plans based on risk assessments of onboard operations and third-party verification of any resulting modifications and changes to procedures.
“We launched Project Hygiea as a way of getting the cruise industry back on its feet, so to have our first success story just three months on brings us a great deal of satisfaction,” said Mattias Jörgensen, business development manager at Foreship. “Although we were always confident that the approach would meet surveyor requirements, having it verified by Bureau Veritas and seeing the first project through to completion will ensure that the high rate of enquiries continues.”