Last year, in the July/August edition, this journal reported on a London conference convened to examine the safety needs of current and future generations of giant cruise liners. The consensus appeared to indicate that a completely fresh look was required to examine the special problems of managing very large numbers of both passengers and crew in an emergency. At a recent special meeting in Southampton, Richard Vie, vice-president, new-building and technical development, of P&O Princess Cruises, told The Naval Architect that much time and effort had been invested in this critical subject - in many cases, well before the subject became an IMO issue. A principal theme is investment in pro-active systems.
