2nd Project on Damage Stability for RoRo Passenger ships

Report, 2018

Ro-ro passenger ship services constitute an important part of the European maritime infrastructure, and indeed play a crucial role for Sweden in connecting seaborne transport routes to and from our neighbouring countries. Moreover, northern European countries have been leading the development of, not only the ro-ro passenger ship concept as such, but also the development of relevant safety standards for this fleet. Understandably, it is therefore crucial for the Swedish maritime sector to take part of the legislative process that covers a significant share of the Swedish maritime infrastructure.

Thus, in light of the IMO deliberations on the revisions of Chapter II-1 of the SOLAS Convention in general and proposals for an increased safety standard for passenger ships in particular, a first Triple-Helix project, partly funded by the Swedish Maritime Administration, was mobilized by the Swedish Shipowners’ Association, focusing on ro-ro passenger ship safety from a holistic perspective. The conclusions and findings of this Project can be found in the Report "Damage Stability Project for RoRo Passenger Ships – Final Report" [1.].

As the draft proposals for enhanced safety standards for passenger ships materialised into firm amendments to SOLAS Chapter II-1, which have now been adopted by the Marine Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization during its 98th session, an extension of the Damage Stability Project was granted additional funding in the beginning of 2017 and consequently the 2nd Project on Damage Stability for Ro-Ro Passenger Ships (2nd RoPax DamStab Project) was mobilised.

The aim of the 2nd RoPax DamStab Project has been to review and evaluate existing as well as future ro-ro passenger ship safety regulations from a theoretical perspective, with the objectives to:

1. provide in-depth knowledge about and facilitate the understanding of existing as well as future damage stability standards,

2. facilitate understanding of ship type specific characteristics from a safety standard aspect, and

3. assess the consequences for the ro-ro passenger ship fleet.

This report outlines the work and findings of the 2nd RoPax DamStab Project as performed during the year of 2017.