Removing the human factor

The idea of an unmanned cargo ship, offering numerous advantages in terms of efficiency and safety, must be tantalising to many shipping companies. If in the future this were to happen, it would mean the removal of the human factor which causes a large number of incidents. However, firefighting on these vessels presents unique challenges, both at sea and in port.

the international maritime organisation (IMO) created the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, otherwise known as SOLAS, which makes many provisions to ensure the safety of those working and travelling on the world’s oceans. Under SOLAS the IMO has a set of international treaties called the International Code for Fire Safety Systems (FSS), these are both regularly updated, especially when there are updates to technology, or lessons learnt from incidents. For example, in 2006, a balcony fire caused by a stray cigarette aboard the cruise ship Star Princess, lead to the death of a passenger and consequently, amendments in SOLAS meaning that all passenger ships shall