Dressing Lines on Cruise Ships Case Study

There have been several reported incidents of failures to components in ships dressing line systems.

In a recent failure a sheave block failed causing the dressing line to fall into a swimming pool.

AM Defence & Marine were asked to investigate the safety of dressing line systems and produce survey reports and recommendations for improvements.

The first requirement was to ascertain what loads were involved within the dressing line systems. By introducing a calibrated load link into the systems we were able to record loads of between 300 to 600kg. In the past, the dressing line systems comprised mainly commercial untested, uncertified components. As they did not obviously fall under any statutory regulations there was no formal inspection programme in place.

By applying lifting equipment standards and regulations we were able to create a set of objectives:

• Make sure all components are fit for purpose, certified and in compliance to lifting gear regulations
• Make sure all components were adequate for the loads recorded in that system
• Check the condition of any components which are deemed fit for purpose
• Proof test all fixed lugs and winches in line with lifting equipment standards
• Issue survey report with quotations for recommended remedial work

Once the quotation was accepted we supplied the certified tested components for the ship’s staff to rig.

We then added the dressing line systems and all components to our LEMS (Lifting Equipment Management System) for the ship and included it in our annual inspection visit issuing an updated condition report annually.