Fire on Board the Liberian Passenger Ship Ecstasy, Miami, Florida ...

Factual Information 16 Marine Accident ReportCarnival Cruise Lines had no written specific qualifications for fitters and noformal recurrent training program for ensuring that fitters were current in their weldingskills. Each chief engineer or staff chief engineer was responsible for ensuring that thecrewmembers in the engine department had the requisite skills and abilities to accomplishtheir jobs. All fitters, including the two welders involved in this accident, received onboardjob-specific safety training, which included a review of proper practices whenwelding and procedures for obtaining a hot work permit.Postaccident requirements. STCW 95 Section A-V/3, effective January 1, 1999,contains minimum requirements for the training and qualifications of masters, officers,and other crewmembers on passenger ships other than roll on-roll off (ro-ro) passengerships. The STCW Code requires that seafarers receive currency training at intervals not toexceed 5 years.The following excerpts from the STCW manual are selected training requirementsin the areas of crowd management, safety, and crisis management and human behavior.Crowd management training1 The crowd management training required by regulation V/3, paragraph 4,for personnel designated on muster lists to assist passengers in emergencysituations shall include, but not necessarily be limited to:.1 awareness of life-saving appliance and control plans, including:.1.1 knowledge of muster lists and emergency instructions,.1.2 knowledge of the emergency exits; and.2.1 the ability to give clear reassuring orders,.2.2 the control of passengers in corridors, staircases and passageways,.2.3 maintaining escape routes clear of obstructions,.2.4 methods available for evacuation of disabled persons and personsneeding special assistance, and.2.5 search of accommodation spaces;.3 mustering procedures, including:.3.1 the importance of keeping order.3.2 the ability to use procedures for reducing and avoiding panic,.3.3 the ability to use, where appropriate, passenger lists for evacuationcounts, and.3.4 the ability to ensure that the passengers are suitably clothed andhave donned their lifejackets correctly.