In the most recent ADAC Ferry Test, 34 ferries were tested which operate in the North Sea, Baltic Sea, the British Channel, the Irish Sea, as well as the western and eastern Mediterranean. With the exception of two high-speed catamarans that run at significantly more than 30 knots, the remaining 32 ships were conventional RoRo passenger ferries. RoRo stands for "roll on/roll off" and describes how vehicles drive on and off the ship's car decks. As a rule, the routes were selected with a view to their importance for tourism with passenger numbers serving as the basis on the individual routes. The ferries in this year's tests call at ports in Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Holland, Norway, Morocco, Sweden and Spain.
The testers in the field were internationally recognised, independent nautical experts from "Vereidigte Nautische Sachverständige" (Hamburg), "Independent Marine Consultants & Surveyors" (IMCS, Rotterdam), "Nautical Commission to the Court of Commerce" (Antwerp) and "Facultat de Nàutica" (Barcelona). Between 6 and 19 March 2004, the experts boarded the ships, initially as tourists, and examined the condition of the ship on the basis of a checklist together with the safety facilities accessible to passengers. Depending on the route in question, the testers were accompanied by photographers, journalists and a German camera team from the "ZDF.reporter" programme.
After this first incognito test, the team then introduced themselves to the captain, inspected the ship's documents, verified the test results, inspected items that were almost impossible to examine incognito, clarified any unclear issues and discussed the shortcomings found. Furthermore, whenever possible, the test team had various drills carried out in order to see how fast the fire brigade responded, they inspected the engine room and had emergency generators and pumps put into operation.
The evaluation was based on a checklist for conventional RoRo passenger ferries that was developed during the first ferry test in 1997 together with nautical experts and the EU Commission and which has been continuously updated since. Parallel to this, a second checklist has also been in use since 1999 which was specifically developed for high-speed ships, such as catamarans. Both lists warrant objective and tester-independent evaluation of the ships. They are partly orientated towards national and international statutory regulations as well as EU regulations, such as the international convention on maritime law, SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) 1974/ 78, with the ongoing amendments, the 1994 and 2000 international code for the safety of high-speed craft and the International Safety Management Code (ISM Code).
Both checklists cover the categories of general safety and safety information, construction and stability, fire protection, life-saving equipment, radio and navigation equipment and safety management. These main categories are broken down as follows:
General safety / safety information: (Weighting 20 percent)
Functionality, ease of access and illumination of escape routes and emergency exits; emergency lighting
Safety instructions for passengers over loudspeakers and on video in different languages, notices showing what to do in an emergency
Signs indicating safety facilities, such as assembly points, escape routes, fire fighting equipment, live-saving equipment; illuminated strips along escape routes
Layout plans with location details
Securing of vehicles and handling of hazardous goods
Security control of passengers, vehicles, luggage and the car deck during check-in
Existence of detailed passenger lists
Construction and stability: (Weighting 10 percent)
Black box on board
Calculation of load and ship stability
Condition and water-tightness of the doors, bow/stern doors and ramps of the car deck
Display system on the bridge to close water-tight doors and/or to permit water to enter
Passenger access to the car deck during the crossing
Fire protection: (Weighting 25 percent)
Smoke detection and fire alarm systems
Hoses, couplings, hydrants at the fire extinguishing points
Fire extinguishers
Fire dampers and ventilation flaps
Fire doors
Sprinkler systems
Life-saving equipment: (Weighting 25 percent)
Condition, ease of access and storage of rescue boats, rescue motorboats, life rafts, lifebelts, life jackets and evacuation systems
Helipad or helicopter winch pad
Radio and navigation equipment: (Weighting 10 percent)
Technical equipment, for example, automatic radar identification of ships
Safety management: (Weighting 10 percent)
Training of the crew in matters of safety
Weekly emergency drills with the crew
Weekly inspection of the ship, documentation of defects and their elimination
EuroTests - EuroTest 2004
