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When I was a young surveyor for Lloyd’s Register in the early 1990s there was a ro-ro passenger ferry moored across the quayside in Southampton, UK, named ‘Candi’. It never moved while I worked there, but I’d look out of the window of our office on Town Quay and wonder what it must have been like on that vessel when she sailed as the Scandinavian Star.
As the Scandinavian Star, the ship caught fire in 1990 and 159 people lost their lives. The cause of the fire was arson, but irrespective of the cause it is a basic truth that if a fire occurs onboard a passenger ship then the consequences can be catastrophic and horrendous. Prior to the Scandinavian Star fire, ships such as the SS Moro Castle in 1934 and the MV Dara in 1961 also experienced tragic incidents involving fires causing considerable loss of life.
Due to incidents such as these, legislators have acted to create a regulatory regime that acknowledges that fires are probably the major risk to passengers onboard ships. Onboard fire risk awareness is not new. When designing the SS United States in in the late 1940s, William Francis Gibbs was so concerned about the risk of fire that it is said that the only wood onboard was the butcher’s block in the galley and the Steinway piano in the lounge.
It is understood that the world of maritime regulations may be unknown to most in the business of cruise and ferry interior design, but it could be crucial in getting a design accepted. I have therefore prepared a document alongside Cruise & Ferry that provides a brief guide to the rules affecting interior design and construction, in the hope that it may allow designers to understand the regulations and avoid the unfortunate situation where designs are rejected or need to be changed to comply.
A Lloyd’s Register surveyor verifying the material of a bulkhead lining panel
There is a globally accepted requirement which comes from the United Nations Convention of the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) that states that one of the duties of the flag state is to “effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters over ships flying its flag”. In particular, each state must take measures for ships flying its flag to ensure safety at sea regarding construction, equipment and seaworthiness. Although this is a high level requirement and not detailed, it sets the foundation for a regulatory framework for safety.
The UN has the International Maritime Organization (IMO), as one of its specialised agencies responsible for the safety and security of shipping. The IMO is responsible for regulations in the maritime sector through various conventions, of which The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is the most relevant to interior designers. SOLAS covers many aspects such as stability, life saving appliances and fire. Designers should focus on the fire area.
SOLAS is constantly reviewed and updated by various working groups and every so often the members of the IMO meet to discuss proposed amendments. This means designers should keep an eye on what changes are in the future and try to future-proof their designs where possible. Lloyd’s Register issues, twice yearly, a document highlighting future legislation which can be downloaded for free.
The text within the SOLAS chapters is supported by various codes that detail some of the requirements. The primary codes affecting designers are the Fire Test Procedure Code and the Fire Safety Systems Code.
These international requirements are not applied on behalf of the UN or IMO. They are applied by the individual flag states through their legal systems. In the UK, this is through the Merchant Shipping Act, which says the UK applies SOLAS, and other countries have similar arrangements where their national legislation recognises SOLAS as their method of meeting their UNCLOS commitment.
Within Europe there is a European Directive – the Marine Equipment Directive (MED) – also known as the ‘wheel mark’. This was a way to have an approval for an item which is accepted to the SOLAS requirements on behalf of one European flag to the SOLAS requirements accepted by other European flags. With the myriad of core materials and surfaces available to designers on the market, the article outlines the requirements identifying which need to be non combustible, have low flame spread or smoke and toxicity characteristics. Failure to meet the appropriate statutory requirements may result in designers’ proposals having to be significantly modified, or at worst being rejected. However, by becoming familiar with these requirements the designer may reduce the risk to their projects by providing compliant designs from the start.
Download the full report Navigating the minefield of regulations relating to marine interiors, which explores how rules are applied to the design of the ship, how they are implemented, and more.
Paul Nichols is Principal Specialist at Lloyd’s Register
Discover more insights like this in the Autumn/Winter 2025 issue of Cruise & Ferry Review. Don’t miss out – subscribe for FREE and get the next issue delivered straight to your inbox.