Investigating abandonment errors in cruise/passenger ships researching the reasons leading to life-losses during an evacuation

Over the course of time and under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), safety at sea has significantly increased. Numerous regulations have been adopted in an effort to increase safety standards onboard ships and reduce the probability of accidents. Unfortunately, abandonment procedures still remain at large inefficient. A very indicative example is provided by the evacuation of Costa Concordia, which lasted more than 6 hours, although the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) dictates this type of operation should not exceed 30 minutes. This research effort aims to provide a clear understanding to the causes behind the inefficiencies and flaws existing in the current evacuation procedures. By deploying a qualitative method, causes behind the accidents and how these can affect the abandonment process will be explored; contributions of the human element and how the psychological/behavioral attributes of people can affect the outcome of an evacuation will be included. Finally, the design of passenger/cruise ships will be discussed in an attempt to identify possible areas of improvement.