A raft of new life saving appliances recently launched in the passenger ship sector offer easy maintenance
Survitec’s Seahaven is now ready to be installed on cruise vessels, having received full type-approval certification from classification society Lloyd’s Register.
Certification follows the successful completion of heavy weather sea trials in December, and all environmental and physical testing concluded in April.
Seahaven, which Survitec says is the world’s largest inflatable lifeboat, launches with the push of a button and automatically inflates, taking four minutes to deploy.
The lifesaving system uses augmented reality, a first for Survitec,that boosts monitoring, maintenance and training.
Survitec vice president innovation and new product development Stewart Gregory tells PST, “It offers remote monitoring 24/7, and if there is a problem, our onshore support can see what [those on the ship can see] through augmented reality from a desk anywhere in the world and can respond to issues 365 days a year.”
Virtual reality offers a “virtual deep dive into actual systems”. Survitec is in advanced discussions over the use of Seahaven with several different people.
The company’s new ferry and small cruise ship MES, which was officially launched at SMM, boosts extended service.
Survitec product manager AES and MES Richard McCormick tells PST, “The ferry MES drives industry towards extended service solutions and efficiency in terms of operations. It brings back extended service solutions to ferry operators and small cruise ships.”
He adds, “Traditionally, liferafts and MES must be serviced every 12 months, but in the last five to 10 years, extended service solutions are growing, especially in liferafts and now extended to MES. There is new technology to control the environment in which the liferaft is packed and to control elements that otherwise inhibit their life–30 months offers significant savings for operators, peace of mind and logistics savings.”
The MES system has a capacity from 150 up to 600 people. It will be class-approved in November and Mr McCormick says the company has “already started to offer it to customers and hopes to have an order very soon after approval”.
Liferaft Systems Australia (LSA) reached a milestone in September this year with the celebration of its 30th birthday – coinciding with a strong orderbook, the launch of a new innovative MES system and efficiencies to deal with supply chain challenges.
LSA managing director Mike Grainger tells PST, “It’s a significant milestone and we reflected on what we have achieved, what we are doing now and what we will do in the future.”
The company has put in place methods to combat supply chain challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Grainger says, “With the pandemic situation, freight costs increased significantly and given that our raw materials are imported and 98% of our business is exported, we had to have a hard look at ordering, purchasing and our freight arrangements. We arranged to order from less suppliers, but order more so that we can reduce freight charges and hold more stock in our company.” Indeed, LSA’s stock levels have soared by 200%.
Mr Grainger has seen developments in lifesaving equipment servicing for passenger ship operators, saying, “Our service network is an important part of our business. Given that we have been in business for 30 years, we have thousands of products out there that all need to be serviced.”
He explains how the company has taken a different approach to some of its competitors by having a minimum of (third party) service stations but which “are the best in their area”. He singles out the UK as an example. The company uses one service station, Star International, to serve the UK which is self-sufficient and owns its own semi-trailers and cranes to enable it toremove and return MES to and from the dockside with ease. Star International has recently opened facilities in the north and south of the UK which complement itsheadquarters in Birkenhead allowing it to provide a high level of service to all UK-based customers and some intercontinental operators.
Mr Grainger says a growing trend is purchasing rotational spare MES, “Lately, customers have been purchasing swap-out equipment for when they have their MES serviced. More and more customers are purchasing rotational spares. It is more efficient, so when the equipment must be serviced, operators can have a quick turnaround with their own equipment.”
LSA’s new Single Activation Fast Evacuation also holds advantages for maintenance and upkeep. The complete system is fastened to the deck by only four bolts, making maintenance very simple.
This is a mini slide-based MES system for lower freeboard passenger-only vessels. LSA has USCG approval and is in the process of gaining DNV, EC and UK type-approval.
Mr Grainger says, “This is an exciting system based on the philosophy of our existing system: it is very safe, very lightweight and very compact. We have spent several years developing the product to fit into confined spaces.”
He says the company had several discussions with ferry operators about the system at the annual Interferry conference in Seattle.
Viking Life-Saving Equipment has seen an uptake in complete supplier agreements for servicing liferafts, lifeboats and marine fire safety equipment.
Viking senior vice president Benny Carlsen explains that allowing all three areas to be serviced at the same time brings several advantages and savings in administration to maritime operators. With the process digitalised including planning and follow up, the concept allows servicing to be proactively planned at certain ports that are beneficial to the operator’s schedule.
30-month liferaft servicing agreements continue to grow in popularity. While not available in all flag states, operators who can access the concept can enjoy a host of benefits. Mr Carlsen says, “It saves the owner time and money because they are skipping one servicing and save both indirect and direct costs.”
Viking’s game-changing LifeCraft advanced evacuation system for cruise ships also offers easier servicing and maintenance benefits to ship operators.
Mr Carlsen explains, “We exchange the entire system when due for service, so the service we do on board is very limited.”
As a further advancement regarding service and maintenance, the LifeCraft features an advanced digital monitoring system that allows system functions to be tracked live and directly from the bridge of the vessel.
