Objective Objectives and content In case of emergencies aboard ships, passengers and crew should assemble at their "muster stations"--relative safe areas where life-saving equipment such as lifeboats is available. If necessary, the passengers can leave the ship from the muster stations. In order to limit the consequences of the emergency, mustering and evacuation should proceed in a fast and orderly fashion. National and international regulations are increasingly stricter in this respect and, secondly, prescribe norms on total evacuation performance rather than on the performance of isolated parts of the system. This means that behavioural aspects should be included. The industry needs new design features as well as new methods to comply with regulations and standards in a cost-effective way. Computer models that predict mustering and evacuation as a function of time are promising tools, but they fall short of reality because they neglect passenger behaviour, and ignore ship motion completely. Moreover, they do not address the effects of new design features. The aim of the present basic research proposal is to study the effects of new design features such as "intuitive" systems for guiding the passengers; corridors and stairs that offer improved walkability in a moving or a listed/heeled ship. These effects will be assessed under realistic ship-motion and behavioural conditions such as "group binding". The data will be made available in reports but also in the form of improved tools (computer programs) for the prediction of mustering and evacuation. The approach will be a combination of behavioural and technical expertise. The outcomes of the project will be tested and evaluated on pragmatic value by a classification society and a national authority. The promise is: improved safety, improved safety standards, and cost reduction. Programme(s) FP4-BRITE/EURAM 3 - Specific research and technological development programme in the field of industrial and materials technologies, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 0302 - Transports Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNO* EU contribution No data Address Kampweg 5 3769 ZG SOESTERBERG Netherlands See on map Total cost No data Participants (6) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Danish Maritime Institute Denmark EU contribution No data Address 99,Hjortekærsvej 2800 Lyngby See on map Total cost No data Det Norske Veritas A/S Norway EU contribution No data Address 1,Veritasveien 1322 Hovik See on map Total cost No data INSTITUT FRANÇAIS DE NAVIGATION France EU contribution No data Address Avenue Octave Gréard, 3 PARIS See on map Total cost No data Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan Sweden EU contribution No data Address 33,Osquars Backe 100 44 Stockholm See on map Total cost No data Quasar Consultants A/S Norway EU contribution No data Address 12,Harbitzalleen 0212 Oslo See on map Total cost No data Scandlines A/S Denmark EU contribution No data Address 10,3SAL,Dampfaergevej 2100 Copenhagen See on map Total cost No data