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Fire and Evacuation

Saving lives. and space

There is often debate over whether to choose a lifeboat “Today’s larger and wider vessels mean that the number of

or liferaft when looking to the safe evacuation of crew passengers and the variation in trim height and list conditions
members, but lifeboats ultimately take up more space can be enormous in a distress situation,” said Mr Christensen.

onboard.“The Lifecraft is a hugely lexible evacuation system that
can cope with such extremes.”
However, a number of fresh solutions have been developed by
VIKING Life-Saving Equipment to meet the maritime industry’s The system is complemented by a specially designed chute

need for effective evacuation and survival systems – whatever the that helps evacuees with special needs, such as children, the
size of the vessel or challenges set by a variety of conditions at sea.elderly and those on stretchers. As the system also takes up

The Danish company has produced many new and less room than lifeboats, it frees up deck space for more cabins
improved types of evacuation systems, immersion suits and and enhanced public spaces.

ixed price agreements to try and keep ahead of the regulators As well as the LifeCraft system, VIKING has also been
and maintain its competitive edge.busy refining its range of survival suits, and at the end

One of the new products VIKING has come up with isof 2014, launched an upgraded version of its PS5002
its new LifeCraft system, which took many years of intense immersion suit designed for seafarers on vessels operating

research and development to bring to the market. It is a high in Arctic waters.
capacity and lexible evacuation system, designed to combine The PS5002 has been successfully used in polar regions for

the manoeuvrability and self-propulsion of modern lifeboats many years, however with many customers expanding the scale

with the lexibility of liferafts. The system offers relative and scope of their operations in extremely cold regions, VIKING
comfort while being easy to store away like a stowed liferaft.has upgraded the suit’s capabilities.

Henrik Uhd Christensen, VIKING Chief Executive, said: “This The PS5002 suit, which is designed to be worn without a
is a product that completely changes the debate about whether lifejacket, features a double layer of insulation to protect the

to opt for a lifeboat or liferaft, particularly for high capacity wearer against extreme cold and enables a longer period of
evacuation requirements. Through the VIKING LifeCraft, we protection against hypothermia. It has been independently

can provide a solution that enables rapid, mass evacuation with a tested at temperatures as low as -62.6C and is now also
high degree of safety for both passengers and crew.”available in high visibility yellow, which helps rescue teams to

There are two elements to the Lifecraft. The irst is a spot survivors.
survival craft, which is a self-propelled and inlatable vessel, Mr Christensen said he believed the newly enhanced PS5002

equipped with four engines, that offers a high degree of offers a number of beneits: “In polar conditions when you

manoeuvrability once deployed at sea.need safety equipment you have to be able to don it quickly and
The second element is a stowage and launching unit which safely. The design should give you as much time as possible to be

can either be placed on deck or built into the vessel’s structure. rescued, and it should make you stand out. With this new design,
It contains up to four Lifecrafts, with the capacity for 200 having to put on only one item instead of two could be crucial in

people each, providing a total capacity of 800 people.raising chances of survival after an incident in such conditions.”

48 The SHIP Supplier 60th Anniversary Edition 1955-2015