Safety on modern cruise liners
The most famous cruise liner in recent history is almost certainly the Titanic; unfortunately famous for all the wrong reasons. The Titanic is renowned as being the luxury liner which sank on its maiden voyage with a huge number of lives lost, raising many questions about the safety of that vessel. If safety standards were still the same as they were a hundred years ago then there would be far fewer passenger ships and fewer people willing to risk their lives at sea, but as it is there have been dramatic improvements in safety onboard ships and modern cruise liners would probably be unrecognisable by the crews of ships like the Titanic.
Modern ships have a variety of different elements which make the ships very safe environments for both passengers and crew. Whereas a hundred years ago the number of lifeboats on a ship depended on the tonnage of the ship it is now sensibly measured against the number of people on board. Modern ships carry sufficient life boats and rafts for everybody onboard the vessel and there are often more spaces in life boats than there are people to fill them. If a ship does need to be evacuated then it is done in an orderly and well practiced manner. In order to ensure safety it is important for an evacuation to be carried out calmly which is why crews are well trained in procedures for evacuating the ship and many ships carry out drills and practices when there are passengers on board so that everybody knows what to do. Safety information is also clearly displayed in areas where passengers can see it and familiarise themselves with what it says. If everybody onboard knows what they need to do in an emergency there is less chance of people becoming panicked and confused and makes it easier for the crew to carry out a safe and successful evacuation whether the ship is sinking or part of the ship needs to be cleared because of a fire.
As well as having a well-trained crew and sufficient emergency equipment, modern vessels have much superior engineering than their predecessors and better means of monitoring what is going on. Gone are the days of boilers suddenly exploding or vital engine components breaking down as most modern ships make use of monitoring equipment. One company who provide monitoring devices are SKF who are involved in the shipping industry; SKF condition monitoring systems ensure that if there are any early signs of a malfunction or of parts becoming worn down there is plenty of time to carry out maintenance or to replace a part before anything dangerous happens.
From the engines and the internal workings of a ship right up to the safety rails on the passenger decks, modern cruise liners are designed with safety for passengers and crew alike as the number one priority. Sailing used to be fraught with dangers, many of which were caused by the ships themselves but this is no longer the case and you can now happily go on a cruise with the knowledge that your safety is assured.