Advanced evacuation system to be installed onboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s next Prima-class of ships
Global Survival Technology pioneer Survitec is teaming up with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH), Independent Maritime Advisors Ltd, and a major shipbuilder to deliver a cruise ship design incorporating Survitec’s Seahaven, the world’s largest inflatable lifeboat.
The companies established the industry working group with a view to installing Seahaven, the award-winning advanced evacuation system (AES), as the primary means of evacuation onboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s next ground-breaking Prima-class of ships.
The 1,060-person capacity Seahaven, a self-propelled inflatable lifeboat, marks a significant step forward in maritime safety. The system works in conjunction with a marine evacuation system (MES), the first of which was installed aboard Norwegian Epic in 2009.
“Seahaven also offers opportunities for naval architects to optimise vessel design,” attests Richard McCormick, Product Manager of AES and MES.
“By replacing conventional lifeboats with Seahaven, we solve the challenge of being able to evacuate an increasing number of cruise passengers quickly, safely and comfortably, while freeing up to an additional 85% of existing lifeboat deck space for greater passenger experiences,” he said.
Typically, a 4,000-passenger capacity cruiseship would require at least 12 to 16 lifeboats and up to four MES with liferafts, taking about 30 minutes to evacuate the ship. Just four Seahaven’s, would be required to evacuate the same number of passengers in the same amount of time.
Seahaven successfully passed Heavy Weather Sea Trials (HWST) in December 2021.
Survitec is a global leader in survival and safety solutions to the maritime, defence & government, aerospace and energy markets. Survitec has over 3,000 employees worldwide covering eight manufacturing facilities, 15 offshore support centres and over 70 owned service centres. It is further supported by a network of over 410 3rd party service centres and distributors. Survitec has received Z-17 approval as a class-approved service provider from seven major classification societies, and also has ISO 9001 certification, the international standard for quality management systems. Throughout its 168-year history, Survitec has remained at the forefront of innovation, design and application engineering and is the trusted name when it comes to critical safety and survival solutions.
