How are cruise liner staff trained for emergency situations?

Question

Do they have a simulator some where, like for aeroplanes?

Anyone know??

Thanks

Answer 1

On the cruise ships i work on there are two types of crew, as touched on below, but i see it a bit differently.
We have the Deck and Engine Officers and, well basically, the rest of the crew.

To become licenced as a Deck or Engine Officer we have to undertake extensive training in fire-fighting, medical care, damage control, crisis management etc etc. The rest of the crew 'might' have some training before joining the ship but this would be the basic personal safety training.

As soon as they get onboard, before they start their duties, they have training on the various lifesaving and firefighting tools we have onboard, but bear in mind we have dedicated teams to deal with these emergencies so the thing that is impressed on them is how to raise the alarm, who to contact and what immediate things they can do (closing doors, shutting off power and evacuating the area etc)

Our emergency teams - fire-fighting, medical, lifesaving (lifeboat and liferaft lowering squads etc) and so on train once a week as a minimum with a few 'unscheduled' drills thrown in.

It is the Deck Officers that are responsible for the safety of the ship and so it also falls to us to train the crew, and with a crew of 1000 people it is an almost full time job! We also get sent ashore from time to time to get 're-trained' to ensure that our skills are still upto date

Even those crewmembers that do not have an emergency function (are not in an emergency team) still have a drill once a month where we train them on abandoning ship and basic firefighting techniques amongst other things.

On a typical cruise ship over half to 2/3rds the crew will have an emergency function, and each of these functions are trained atleast once a month... to give you an idea of how many different teams there are onboard here is a little list of some from my last ship:
First response
Onscene commanders
Fire teams (x4)
Hose Handling teams (supporting the fire teams)
Rescue squads
passenger assist teams
lifeboat crews
liferaft crews
lifeboat lowering squads
liferaft lowering squads
boat deck commanders
man overboard teams
damage control teams
medical teams
security squads
traffic directors
and on and on

Sadly there are some 'mickey mouse' companies out there that do not train their crews but they are in a vast minority - a ship can be inspected at anytime by the state/port authorities and they will invariably ask to see a drill - if the ship does not do well they will detain the ship until it is good enough.

As an example take a look at the star princess fire - a raging inferno that covered 3 decks and 3 or 4 fire zones - by all reasoning that fire should have taken the whole ship but the fire teams got it under control, with the loss of only one life (an elederly person who had a heart attack).

Fires happen all the time on cruise ships (its a city afterall) but 99% are dealt with before the passengers even know there is a problem, its only the incredibly rare disasters that people hear about, and really shouldnt colour peoples perceptions on the safety of cruise ships, which are just about the safest ships afloat

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

I used to do safety training courses for ships, and masterlymayhem hits it all...a 4.0 and a BZ to him.....

a few other points.....the bridge crew..the master, the senior mates and maybe the helmsmen do have simulator training much like aircraft; bridge mock ups with big screen TVs around it and you can practice driving into most of the world's ports.....

there are THOUSANDS of pages of rules and regulations the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS); the Standards of Training and Certification for Watchkeepers ( STCW); and the Safety and Training Survey which can be a many hundred page document which tells every single crew person aboard what to do if, a b or c happens ( the US Navy calls this the Watch, Quarters and Station bill" )

Rules are only as good as those who enforce them...the US Coast Guard and the Brit MCA are thorough and vicious about it , and all good companies....like masterlymahem are just as thorough and vicious. "No mistakes.We're talking about people's lives....maybe yours. So pay attention!"

Many Third World countries don't have the expertise.....or the desire.... to enforce the international regulations. That's why you get 1,000 people dieing on an Indonesian ferry.

And, as was said, you've got tow separate crews aboard: the sailors and the hotel people......you wouldn't expect a chambermaid in hotel to know how to use a fire hose, would you?

Answer 4

It depends on if you talking about the staff or the crew. The staff are the people who make the beds, food, bar tenders. These people are trained in first aid, fire fighting, water safety. They have the STCW. Now the crew are the people that steer the ship and make sure the engines and systems are working. The crew is trained in a lot more safety. They have the basic safety of the ship. There are simulators from steering to watch rounds in the engine room. It takes a lot of training and schooling to drive the ship or work in the engine room.

Answer 5

When liners plowed the oceans, the crews were seamen, even the stewards had ship experience. Now they barely know which is the bow and stern. Don't depend on them in an emergency. They've been known to jump in the lifeboats before the passengers even know anything is wrong.

Carefully locate your passageways, doors and stairs. In a crisis, avoid elevators. If power fails you're screwed. Pay attention to the required Boat Drill..hopefully the crew will. BonVoyage!