Why do we have to get out off the bus in a ferry?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 22 Jul, 2023
- |
It’s specifically banned by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization. (See page 20). It appears to be in response to the loss of the Estonia in 1994.
The reason passengers are not allowed on the car decks on ferries is that it is illegal. The reason for it being illegal is of course safety, preventing theft from cars, fire hazards (people smoking in their own cars) etc.
This is from Marine and Coast Guard Agency (UK) on ro-ro passenger ships.
3.1 The SOLAS Convention Chapter II-1 Reg. 20-3, requires that “In all ro-ro passenger ships, the master or the designated officer shall
ensure that, without the expressed consent of the master or the
designated officer, no passengers are allowed access to an enclosed
ro-ro deck when the ship is under way.”
There is a night train-ferry across the Baltic, which (for example) leaves Germany (Sassnitz) at 23.15 and arrives Sweden (Trelleborg) at 03.15. The whole point of the night train is that train passengers are allowed to stay in their sleeping berth for the crossing, but they can also wander around the ship including the train deck.
I suspect the difference is:
- The train cars are chained down during the voyage, so there’s not much likelihood of them coming loose in rough seas
- There’s a sleeping car attendant who will stay in the carriage overnight, and wake passengers in case of emergency
- On a bus the driver must take statutory rest breaks (45 mins every 4h30). The ferry is a convenient time for the bus driver to take their break, and so the driver can’t be ‘on duty’ during that time. On the train the attendant travels on the voyage and stays up overnight, but they aren’t subject to driving time rules. There are different locomotives in Germany and Sweden and neither drivers travel on the ferry.
People on a bus inside a ferry could do all kinds of mischief. You’d have to expect that someone might do something totally idiotic like starting the engine of a bus and starting to drive. That’s obviously idiocy of the highest order, but it could endanger the lifes of hundreds of passengers and crew, and you don’t want to take that risk.
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You have to leave the coach to make evacuation easier.
Even in ferries where your coach stays on the top deck, you sometimes have to leave the vehicle.
This is because in case of accident, the fear is that it will take too long to escape the vehicle and the risk of going down with the ferry is high.
And it is not just for rogue waves, it is also for the ferry getting hit by (or hitting) other craft on the water.
Not all short term ferry crossings will make you leave a top side parked vehicle, but those where you are more likely to sleep are more likely to get you out.
As for vehicles parked under decks, they almost always have a ‘leave the vehicle’ rule with an extra rule of not being allowed on the deck during the crossing.
Anybody sleeping in a car or coach will be unable to escape in case of accident, more so when the ferry capsizes, as the vehicles might move against each other and the ‘walls’ of the ferry, while those people in cabins will have difficulties but do stand a chance to get out.
Most ferries also keep the crew off those decks, but for a security check at regular (or iregular) intervalls, staying away from the parked vehicles as much as possible.
Keeping passengers from those decks makes for a much smaller chance of thieves breaking open cars parked there, which is an additional reason.
No links, as this is basic knowledge, added to by talking with friends (and chance meeting with crew) who work on ferries, ranging from the local cross shipping canal one to the Inter Island ferry, New Zealand, where I was allowed to accompany one of the staff on a round of the car and train deck.
Passengers are prohibited from the car decks on ferries in most every country in the world. Vehicles can shift position in rough seas and injure people standing between them. And since a rogue wave can appear at any point in time without any warning, the ban applies throughout the entirety of a sailing.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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