Eritor's corner - Ship safety

Ship safety is an issue which has gained a greater importance lately, especially in the wake of the ESTONIA catastrophe. Ship safety matters have, of course, always been dealt with but not always emphasised in ship design and research. The way how safety aspects are considered in a maritime environment is a result of a long historical development. The role of classification societies and IMO are at present the cornerstones. The safety methodologies that are applied in new areas such as aviation, offshore and nuclear industry have on the other hand had to start from a clean table. These approaches are now applied also in maritime environment. Ship stability research has long traditions in Finland. The first internationally acknowledged stability standards are those published in 1939 by Rahola, later professor of Naval Architecture at Helsinki University of Technology. Within the last few years the activity has centered in Otaniemi mainly around the challenges of manoeuvring, fairway and traffic control systems. The combination of planar motion model tests and ship handling simulator has been the tool.