Microscopic Simulation of Evacuation Processes on Passenger Ships

The analysis of evacuation processes on-board passenger ships has attracted increasing interest over the last years. Most of the approaches utilise so called flow models. Cellular automaton models, widely used for traffic simulations, on the other hand provide a more natural approach towards pedestrian dynamics. Two major difficulties are intrinsical to the problem: two-dimensional movement of pedestrians and the complexity of psychological and social influences. In this paper a simple CA-model for the description of crowd motion is presented and its implementation in a simulation software outlined. The validity of the assumptions and the scope of the applications will have to be scrutinised by comparison with empirical data from actual evacuations or drills. 1 Safety of Passengers On-board Ships The safety of passengers on-board ships is a central topic in the design and operation of passenger ships [1,2]. Due to the special circumstances on-board a ship, a careful consideration of problem areas and potential hazards is necessary [3,4]. 1. Depending on the area of operation it is usually not possible to provide additional support in terms of men or material above those that are available on-board within a short time span. 2. In case of a major incident where the ship has to be abandoned there is an unalterable upper limit for the available evacuation time given by the stability of the ship. 3. The connection between the design and operation of a ship and its safety is very close. Therefore, shortcomings stemming from the design are hard to counterbalance afterwards. Passenger ships differ in many respects: The area of operation, the number of passengers, the speed, the profile of the passengers (age, time of stay, etc.). An illustrative example are the differences between fast ferries and cruise ships, where the journey usually lasts a few hours for the former or days for the latter and that are operated close to the shore or on the high sea. In any case, it is essentially important to assess and validate the safety of a certain design and operational procedure. There are two main aspects that have to be kept in mind: one is the overall evacuation time which is used as a benchmark and the second is the sequence of the evacuation. With regard to the latter the aim is the identification of potential bottlenecks and retardation. Applied at an early stage of design such an analysis will not only pursuit the validation of an existing design or evacuation plan but also their improvement. Special attention has to be paid to the various influences on the outcome of an evacuation illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 1. The design and operation of a ship influence the movement of passengers on-board. The diagram shows the most important factors with regard to safety and evacuation. MES is short for Marine Evacuation System which comprises slides and life-rafts. This is understood to include lifeboats where they are part of the