MES is an appliance for the rapid transfer of persons from the embarkation deck of a ship to a floating survival craft. Escape systems are based on slide or chute methods. Slide systems consist of a gas-inflated slide and an inflated boarding platform. They are used in association with large liferafts racked close to the position of the rigged slide. Difficult for use with excessive list of ship. See also MARIN ARK, VIKING EVACUATION MINI CHUTEand VIKING MARINE EVACUATION SYSTEM.
- Dry shod marine rapid evacuation system – The system developed by Dunlop-Beaufort Ltd., suitable for high freeboard vessels. The design comprises a tubular chute with a flame retardant cover connected to an inflatable platform at its base from which the liferafts are boarded. The fully-enclosed chute ensures that passengers are not exposed to outside elements. The chute and platform is housed in a unit on deck.
- Rigid evacuation slide – Marine Safety of Norway has introduced a rigid evacuation slide designed for high-speed crafts. The hydraulically-actuated slide comes in up to five sections and can be used for evacuating passengers from up to 9 m above sea level. The slide can be directly mounted to an escape door and comes with a hand pump for the hydraulic actuation in the event of a power failure.
- Twin-track-slide marine evacuation system – The system comprises inflatable twintrack slides capable of evacuating passengers into two 135-person capacity liferafts which are connected to the slide. The separately-stored third raft gives the required capacity and is reached via one of the other rafts.
- Vertical escape chute system – The system pioneered by Selantic Safety AS. Raft deployment is done simply by pressing the button either on the bridge or at an MES station, with all rafts inflating automatically. Weight is only 1000 kg for each station, or approximately one-third that of twin-track slides. In addition far less ship space is required compared with slides, the service costs are low, and the system is stable and dependable in high waves and winds.
Useful websites: www.VIKING-life.com; www.lsames.com
