1 The Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventy-third
session (27 November to 6 December 2000), adopted, by resolution MSC.97(73), the International
Code of Safety for High-Speed Craft, 2000 (2000
HSC Code) which entered into force on 1 July 2002. This Code
requires in section 4.8.2 that an
"evacuation procedure, including an evacuation analysis carried out
taking into account the guidelines developed by the Organization shall
be developed for the information of the Administration in connection
with the approval of fire insulation plans and for assisting the owners
and builders in planning the evacuation demonstration required in
4.8.3" of the Code.
2 The Committee, at its seventy-fourth session
(30 May to 8 June 2001), noting that computerized simulation systems
are still under development, decided that a simplified evacuation
analysis method was needed in the interim and, having considered a
proposal by the forty-fifth session of the Sub-Committee on Fire Protection,
approved Interim Guidelines for a simplified evacuation analysis of
high-speed passenger craft and invited Member Governments to apply
the Interim Guidelines when implementing the requirements of section 4.8.2 of the 2000 HSC Code, and
to submit to the Sub-Committee on Fire Protection information on experience
gained in their implementation.
3 The Committee, at its eightieth session (11
to 20 May 2005), after having considered a proposal by the forty-ninth
session of the Sub-Committee on Fire Protection made in light of the
experienced gained in the application of the aforementioned Interim
Guidelines, approved the Guidelines for a simplified evacuation analysis
of high-speed passenger craft, together with the worked example appended
thereto, as set out in the annex.
4 Member Governments are invited to apply the
annexed Guidelines when implementing the requirements of section 4.8.2 of the 2000 HSC Code and
bring them to the attention of craft designers, craft owners and other
parties involved in the design, construction and operation of high-speed
passenger craft.