German ADAC evidences the necessity that all the cruise ships navigate with the closed watertight doors



German ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club), the greatest automotive club of Germany and Europe, has lead an investigation on safety of the cruise ships realized with visits to ten modern ships employed in the Mediterranean that are carried out by experts of the association before in incognito and successively accompanied from officials and members of the crew.

Such controls, centralized on the examination of the equipments and the antifire rescue, safety procedures and, are lead on the AIDAbella ships and AIDAdiva of the AIDA Cruises company (constructed respective in 2008 and 2008), Costa Fascinosa and Costa Serena di Costa Crociere (constructed in 2012 and 2007), Advendure of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas di Royal Caribbean International (constructed in 2001 and 2002), MSC Fantasy, MSC Splendid Orchestra and MSC of MSC Cruises (constructed in 2008, 2007 and 2009) and Norwegian Epic di Norwegian Cruise Line (constructed in 2010).

The association has evidenced as the verification has ascertained that all the visited ships were in good or optimal conditions, equipped of modern equipments of safety, rescue and of modern devices antifire and, therefore, to consider itself sure. However, second the ADAC, ulterior improvements in the field of the performance and the management of all are possible the security measures. In particular, the Club has found deficiencies in the carried out practices of safety on the four ships Norwegian Epic, MSC Fantasy, Navigator of the Seas and Splendid MSC, on which - he has explained ADAC - not always all the passengers are convened in order to carry out the practice, not always has been possible the verification of the corrected use of the jackets and of the life rafts and in some cases some way of escape was obstructed.

Moreover the ADAC has found a problem that the association considers most serious from the point of view of safety and that it is placed under the waterline of the ships: five of the ten ships (Adventure of the Seas, Norwegian Epic, MSC Fantasy, MSC Splendid Orchestra and MSC) - it has specified the German Club - they navigated with doors to watertight estate opened in order to facilitate operating activities, as for example in the laundry or the warehouses, while international convention SOLAS - it has emphasized the ADAC - previews that all the watertight doors must be held closed in navigation and that in exceptional and verified cases they only can be granted exceptions to the States of flag (as in the case of the ships in question). According to the experts of the ADAC, the custom to hold open some doors to watertight estate it is not from underrating from the point of view of the risk for safety of the ship.

ADAC has specified at last that "it has been possible to only estimate nine of the ten ships since - the Club has asserted - the commander of Costa Serena, on instructions of the navigation company, has refused to cooperate".