New goal-based (as opposed to prescriptive) passenger ship safety standards came into force which include:
(1) alternative designs and arrangements; (2) safe areas and the essential systems to be maintained while a ship proceeds to port after a casualty, which will require redundancy of propulsion and other essential systems; (3) on-board safety centres, from where safety systems can be controlled, operated and monitored; (4) fixed fire detection and alarm systems, including requirements for fire detectors and manually operated call points to be capable of being remotely and individually identified; (5) fire prevention, including amendments aimed at enhancing the fire safety of atriums, the means of escape in case of fire and ventilation systems; and (6) time for orderly evacuation and abandonment, including requirements for the essential systems that must remain operational in case any one main vertical zone is unserviceable due to fire.
