In the construction of modern cruise ships, all the most innovative technologies and the latest achievements of science and technology are used. This allows cruise companies to claim without exaggeration that sea cruises are the safest vacation.
UNESCO has declared sea cruises the safest form of recreation in the world based on a multi-year study conducted by the organization.
Why cruise ship passengers feel comfortable in any weather conditions and in any sailing region? Why sea cruises are practically not susceptible to natural, weather and political disasters?
The basis for maximum passenger comfort at sea in any weather is pitch stabilization systems. Let’s take a closer look at what it is?
1. Roll stabilization system
Not a single modern airliner can be imagined without a stabilization system. It is this that ensures the stability of cruise ships and smooth sailing, so that passengers cruise in comfortable conditions and do not experience seasickness. Pitch stabilizers for cruise ships are a complex and high-tech system comparable in functionality to systems that control the position of spaceships.
In the photo: This is part of the “roll stabilization” system of a modern cruise ship,
and not a fragment of a spaceship under construction.
The stabilization system consists of several elements.
Firstly, these are ballast tanks located in the lower part of the airliner’s hull. Modern liners have a shallow draft, no more than 8 meters, despite the fact that the hull is about 50 meters high above the water. Water is collected in the ballast tanks, which makes the center of gravity lower and the liner more stable.
Secondly, these are stabilizer hydrofoils. They are located in the center of the liner on both sides and can move up and down in antiphase to the waves. Motion sickness can occur when the brain receives different signals from the eyes and the middle ear. On earth, a person sees where he is going and feels the same. During a storm, a person sees the surrounding interior as motionless, but the receptors in the middle ear detect a deviation from the horizon, as a result of which the person experiences discomfort. Underwater stabilizers allow the liner to maintain its original position relative to the horizon, which helps avoid seasickness. Instead of wings, and sometimes together with them, movable ballast is used – huge, weighing up to 100 tons, metal counterweights that move along rails and prevent the cruise liner from swaying.
Thirdly, the stabilization system has a computer “brain”, which, using a gyroscope, evaluates the deviation of the cruise ship from the horizon and triggers the appropriate mechanisms. Underwater stabilizers on modern cruise ships are retracted in calm waters and released only when the seas become more intense.
The larger and more modern the airliner, the more complex and advanced stabilization systems it has. Of course, they do not provide a 100% guarantee against motion sickness, but passengers can be sure that they will not even notice a storm of up to 5 points!
And such strong storms in the regions where modern liners sail are very rare. It is no coincidence that more than 16 million passengers go on sea cruises every year, more than half of whom are not on their first cruise, choosing this type of vacation as the most comfortable, profitable and safe compared to other tourism products.
2. Satellite navigation
The second, no less significant factor that guarantees passengers comfort and safety is the super-technological satellite navigation systems installed on cruise ships. This allows the captain and crew to fully control any situation and make timely decisions: simply put, in the event of a storm warning, the cruise ship will simply wait it out in a calm place or, on the contrary, speed up and move further away to calmer waters.
3. The liner changes route in case of an unfavorable situation
And the third factor influencing the recognition of sea cruises is that in the event of a turbulent political situation in the region (as for example in 2010 and 2011 arose in Tunisia and Egypt, and where cruise ships also call) in Unlike land-based resorts, the liner is able to quickly move to a safe distance, so to speak, “sail away from the problem,” or call at alternative ports, for example in Italy. That’s what the cruise lines did, just changing the routes slightly.
Thus, the conclusion is obvious – a cruise vacation is truly the safest in the world, and does not depend on weather or political events in any region.
Important to note! Everything written in this article is only valid for the world’s leading cruise corporations that have modern cruise fleets and invest heavily in safety technology.
There are also old-built ships in the world that are still operated by small private companies. And in this case, the safety of passengers, of course, cannot be guaranteed at this level.
