Zodiac SOLAS has introduced a small automatic escape slide developed specifically for passenger vessels with limited crew. The Zodiac MES ESS features an inflatable slide and open reversible liferaft that can be launched and inflated automatically by the ship's master on the bridge.
By pressing a button on the system's control box in the wheelhouse, the unit is automatically launched over the ship's side where the slide and raft will inflate. A pair of self-tensioning electric winches will then pull-in bowsing lines to make the escape system secure and ready for use. The only human intervention necessary is for the removal of a locking pin to open the gate and permit access to the slide. It has also been designed so that it can be accessed and used independently by disabled and wheelchair-bound passengers who would otherwise require assistance to escape.
The new Zodiac escape system is intended for use aboard small ferries and passenger ships where it can free crews for other emergency duties that would not be possible if they had to launch a system manually. The slide is available in five sizes ranging for freeboards of 1.7 metres to 3.8 metres. The open liferaft is reversible and can be used whichever way up it floats. A canopied version of the raft is also available if operational conditions make it desirable.
The entire system is vacuum packed and stored inside a square container that is carried on a deployment cradle. When the launch button is pressed the container lashings are automatically released, an airbag on the cradle then inflates and pushes the container overboard. Inflation of the slide and raft is immediate and the automatic tightening of the bowsing lines ensures that the system is ready for use in barely a minute. The system will continue to function if the ship has a list of up to 20 degrees to port or starboard and if the vessel sinks hydrostatic release units will enable the slide and raft to inflate and float free.
The ship's 24 volt emergency electrical supply is used to power the bowsing winches and supplementary batteries can also be supplied that will perform the task if there is a power failure. In such an event, or if there is physical damage to the communications, the system can also be activated manually by a crew member. The lashings and manual release mechanism are easily accessed by crew members but have been designed to remain largely inaccessible to passengers.
The new Zodiac MES ESS escape system is EC(MED) approved by Bureau Veritas and manufactured in France at the company's factory at Chevanceaux near Bordeaux.
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