RINA Launches Major Ferry Safety Initiative

Italy-based classification society RINA has launched a major ferry safety initiative.

The Asset Integrity Management scheme for ro-pax ferries covers fire risk mitigation, single-failure risk assessment, enhanced planned maintenance and condition-based monitoring and also food and bacteriological risk management. The initiative also covers specific training for ro-pax crews, including behavioral training to avoid and manage crises,

Paolo Moretti, General Manager Marine, RINA Services, says, “With over 300 ferries in our class we are the world leaders in ro-pax ferry safety. That gives us two things. One is a lot of experience and feedback from vessels in service, the other is a sense of responsibility. We feel that as the class of choice for these types of vessel we should show a lead in safety standards which go beyond regulatory basics.”

RINA’s package of initiatives builds on its recent work with major cruise and ferry operators to extend tailored risk management services to the marine industry.

Moretti says, “Our experience shows that operation and maintenance of these vessels merit particular attention. Extending targeted risk-management to ro-pax operation will bring benefits for operators and in overall safety.”

Specific parts of the ro-pax package are a fire risk identification and mitigation service, a series of training courses for crews and shore staff which focus on teamwork and behavior in a crisis and a service to identify and mitigate the risk of any single failure impacting the ship and its operations severely. There is also a focus on condition-based monitoring and enhanced and targeted planned maintenance and a bacteriological risk assessment and mitigation service. All of the components are brought together under one Best Management scheme to monitor and follow up the component parts in operation.

The first company to use the new package is Grimaldi Lines which will implement the measures on the 22.5 knot 954-passenger ro-pax vessel Florencia.

The package builds on work done last year with major passenger fleet operators including Carnival, MSC Cruises and Moby Lines to extend an approach to operations and maintenance based on risk-prevention, assessment and management.

“What we are doing is bringing the disciplines used in offshore industry into passenger ship operations,” explains Moretti. “It began with a hot spot analysis service and we have extended that to a Single Point of Failure standard approach.  The scope of this analysis is to assess the risk associated with a single failure of particular equipment or systems which may have severe consequences on the ship’s service and operation and to identify the most appropriate mitigating measures to be implemented. The analysis evaluates the ship’s system availability in the case of any single failure.”

The systems to be analyzed, which can include propulsion and safety systems, navigation systems, sanitation and hotel services, the consequences to be considered for the people on board and the definition of likelihood are all decided in cooperation with the customers depending on their objectives.

“We think of this as a Marine Asset Integrity System, and that was the platform for developing a specific package for ro-pax ferries,” says Moretti. “As it goes beyond prescriptive requirements it can be tailored to the individual circumstances, ships and routes of each operator. Our experience helps them to focus on the things that might go wrong and the consequences if they do, and then our risk management services help to find ways to limit the likelihood of those critical issues going wrong. It means taking a long hard look at how big complex systems like ro-pax and other passenger ships work. It covers not just machinery and systems and operations but issues such as bacteriological risk, which is a big concern for passenger ships. Simple in principle, very complex in practice and requiring both experience and specific skills.”