RO- RO SAFETY PART 2

A further important point made by the

dNV study was that the

ro-ro ships most frequently

exposed to serious casualties and total losses were the pure

ro-ro and freight-only types. Pure

ro-ros

had a high percentage share of all casualties and especially of total losses. Passenger ferries, on the

other hand, had a fairly high percentage share of all categories but the serious casualty/total loss

frequency was relatively low.

The study also showed that the total loss rate for

ro-ros was significantly

lower

than the

average for the world fleet (under 0.25% over the 13-year period compared with about 0.55% for the

world fleet).

A quick look at some of the best-known accidents involving

ro-ro ships

also indicates some

of the major problem areas. Several of them involved water getting on to the vehicle deck through

the cargo doors, either as a result of a mistake or an accident.

The first

ro-ro ship to be lost at sea was the

Princess Victoria,

a rail ferry which sank on a

voyage to Belfast in 1953 when heavy seas stove in the stern door: 133 lives were lost. At least 264

people died in 1966 when the Greek ferry

Heraklion

sank in heavy seas on a voyage to Piraeus.

Although not a

ro-ro, the ship did have a large car deck without

subdivisional bulkheads. This deck

flooded when

the loading hatch was smashed by a vehicle which had broken loose. The cargo

ro-ro

Hero

was lost in 1977, partly as a result of water entering through a leaking stern door. In September

1994 the passenger

ro-ro

Estonia

was lost with more than 900 lives when

the bow door was torn off

by heavy seas. The car deck flooded and the ship capsized within a few minutes (see page 20).

These accidents happened in heavy seas, but other

ro-ros have been lost through water

entering doors in port or sheltered waters.

They include the

Straitsman

,

which sank when the stern

door was opened as the ship approached land, with the crew unaware that the door sill was below the

waterline: and the

Seaspeed

Dora

, which capsized in 1977 when a movement of cargo caused the

ship to list sufficiently for water to enter through an open bunkering door. In the case of the

Herald

of Free Enterprise

, water entered through the bow door which had been left open (see page 13).

Ro-

ro

ships which have sunk rapidly as a result of a collision have included the

Jolly

Azzurro

(1978),

Collo

(1980),

Tollan

(1980),

Sloman Ranger

(1980),

Ems

(1981),

European Gateway

(

1983)

and

Mont Louis

(1984).

Among

ships which have been lost following a shift of cargo are the

Espresso

Sardegna

(1973),

Zenobia

(1980) and

Mekhanik

Tarasov

(1982, in very bad weather).