§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has done into the length of time needed to passenger evacuations of(a) ro-ro ferries and (b) other passenger ships; and what is his estimate of the length of time needed to evacuate a ro-ro ferry carrying 2,000 passengers. [22909]
§ Mr. Norris[holding answer 9 May 1995]: There has been no research funded by the Department of Transport on passenger evacuation times from passenger ships during the last 15 years, although research findings on the wider context of passenger and crew behaviour in emergency situations are currently being considered.
Current escape and life saving arrangements are designed so that passenger ships can be evacuated within 30 minutes, regardless of the number of passengers on board.