Safety Briefing Then and Now
By John Martin
Viking Neptune alongside Viking Venus in Kusadasi- Turkey
Joining the brand new ‘Viking Neptune’, one of Viking’s ocean-going cruise ships, in Istanbul last November I was not surprised on boarding that we were directed to one of the public rooms for a safety briefing. What did surprise me was that we were met by a crew member wearing a lifejacket. “If the ship was in an emergency situation, we would be called to our emergency station which is here. This is where you would be a given a lifejacket should one be needed. You would be shown how to wear it like this. Enjoy your cruise”. That was IT?
What wasn’t mentioned was when you found your stateroom, there would be a welcome message waiting on the TV. Of course, it was THE SAFETY BRIEFING. In video format. This message had to be opened before one could access any other features of the TV system.
VIKING VENUS - 2021
Her gross tonnage is 47,800 tonnes, with an overall length of 228.2 m, beam of 28.8 m and draught of 6.45 m. In common with its sister ships, it has 465 cabins with accommodation for 930 passengers.
Viking Ocean cruise ships typically have a crew-to-passenger ratio of about 1:2
Going back to the days of simplified technology when stateroom TV’s were used for showing video’s one could borrow from the reception desk, or watch the progress of the ship being recorded from a camera at the front of the ship, UK Department of Transport requirements were that emergency drills for passengers had to be held within 24 hours of sailing.
My experiences were that the drill was advertised in the Daily News asked, usually at 10 am ‘when normal ship services will be closed’ and that passengers should assemble in their designated emergency stations as identified on the back of their cabin doors; some companies asking for passengers to bring the lifejackets from their cabins with them. Others supplied lifejackets, if needed, from the emergency station – usually a designated public room.
After a cabin check-off and headcount, passengers would be led to their lifeboat stations. After a check to make sure lifejackets were correctly worn and all passengers accounted for there was a ‘stand-down’ signal and one could go back to enjoy their holiday.
It's worth noting that muster procedures were changed across the industry in 2013 following the Costa Concordia disaster. in 2012, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) implemented new safety regulations for the cruise industry. One of the changes involved the muster drill, which is the mandatory safety briefing that all passengers must attend at the beginning of the cruise before the ship sailed..
Premier Cruise Line was the cruise line affiliated with Disney in 1990. Premier Cruise Line operated as the official cruise line for Walt Disney World in Florida and offered cruises that included land and sea packages.
The partnership between Premier Cruise Line and Disney allowed passengers to combine a visit to Walt Disney World with a cruise experience.
John Martin - In his seagoing days
Joining Premier Cruise lines, sailing three and four day cruises out of Port Canaveral in 1990, there was a completely different system.
It was a US Coastguard requirement that passengers attend safety drills BEFORE the ship sailed. The Premier way of doing this involved passengers bringing lifejackets from their cabins, finding their lifeboat station and standing in lines so their cabin numbers could be called out. Theoretically, the lifejackets were marked with the lifeboat number to which they should be assigned which was to help crew members direct them to right boat station. Up to 1200 passengers spread between 12 lifeboats did cause initial mayhem, but once assembled and any recalcitrant passengers ‘discovered’, they, at least knew where they had to go in the case of an emergency.
Fire on the Continental Deck
Just as well. It was a Friday sailing from Canaveral, May 10th. 1991. I had gone to bed early – meaning it would have been around 11pm. It was after midnight when the alarms went off. Groggily dressing in some semblance of uniform – grabbing the lifejacket and made my way to the Hotel Manager’s office – my initial emergency station from where I had a ‘roving commission’ to help passenger evacuation to their respective lifeboat stations remaining in contact with the Hotel Manager’s office via radio.
The cause of the emergency? A fire had started on Continental Deck aft in a linen locker which had started to make its way along the starboard passenger alleyway. As there had been no announcements from the bridge as to why the whole ship was now at lifeboat stations it was left to me to explain that some of the crew were fighting a fire ‘at the back end of the ship’ trying to sound as reassuring as possible as I patrolled the boat deck. It seemed every five minutes, the only announcement from the bridge was “Would the Hotel Manager please ‘phone the Bridge”.
Was Captain Chilas having a meltdown himself?
(or perhaps he was dancing)
“So where is the Hotel Manager?” I was regularly asked by alarmed passengers. I had to patiently explain that he was indeed where he should be, at his emergency station, awaiting instructions from the bridge while coordinating elements of the hotel crew at their respective emergency stations.
Premier Cruise Line -Starship Atlantic
It was over an hour before an announcement was made that ‘an accommodation fire had been put out – and it was safe for passengers to return to their cabins’. Except it was not good for those passengers whose cabins had been burned out or suffered smoke and water damage. 7 burnt and 7 damaged. Temporary sleeping arrangements had to be made for those that could not be accommodated in spare cabins. It was mainly those who had their cabins damaged that had to be ‘put up’ on mattresses with new bedding and pillows in ‘Club Universe’, the youth centre. I record getting back to bed at 4.50 am and back up at 7am to check on passenger comfort and requirements, ensuring their area was secure from other passengers.
On arrival at Nassau Margaret & Darrel the usual members of the ‘Lit & Mit’ team that used to meet us on arrival back in Port Canaveral to follow up on passenger complaints and assorted ‘try-ons’ for compensation, along with a good section of the legal and customer services depts.. had flown over to meet us. They were kept busy for the 30 hours we were in port.
In retrospect, having passengers go to an internal muster station like a public room seems a far more sensible option, rather than standing on deck in a restrictive lifejacket in whatever the weather conditions might be. Fortunately, on this occasion is was a reasonably calm and warm night.
It had been a case of arson. After a full security investigation, it was found that some crew members were aware that the ship may be changing hands (in fact Carnival Corp. were looking to integrate the Premier brand into their portfolio) and they thought this might mean them losing their jobs. They did!
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Good article on Emergency Procedure, John.
In my day working on immigrant liners, long before TV monitors in cabins, emergency procedures were practiced an hour prior to sailing from Southampton.
All passengers must attend the briefing, no exceptions, after the warning alarms on ships whistle, passengers were instructed to return to cabins and collect their life jackets and proceed in orderly and calm manner to their muster stations as indicated on their cabin doors. At the muster station, the crew, generally on Prom Deck, below their allocated lifeboat which would be lowered to embarkation point, would check off all passengers allocated to this lifeboat. How to wear the life jacket would be demonstrated by crew, and what to do if…
Good lord! In the 1960s, muster stations with your lifejacket were mandatory on P&O - and I imagine most other lines. During hurricane Betsy on Canberra (1965 force 4 or 5), you had to take your life jackets everywhere and A/Bs would open & close the hatches on lower decks - with plenty of water sloshing about. After the storm started to abate, Canberra was hit by a rogue wave. A day after the worst of the storms, my brother and I were in the children's playroom on the Games Deck when a rogue wave hit Canberra's starboard side. Everyone and everything slid to port. Canberra hung on the roll, and I can remember distinctly locking eyes with…