VIKING Helix Slide Offers Easier Ship Evacuation

A marine evacuation system (MES) from VIKING Life-Saving Equipment offers a faster exit for passengers, simpler operation for crew and easier service for cruise and ferry owners.

Developed for passenger ships needing high evacuation capacity, the VIKING Helix MES introduces a new helix-type slide that 4-8 people can use at once and a bowsing system that keeps life rafts on-side with minimal crew involvement.

Enabling the controlled ship evacuation of up to 477 persons within 30 minutes into 153-person life rafts alongside, the multiple occupancy slide accommodates adults of all sizes. It also allows adults and children to evacuate together, while even stretchers carrying injured persons can be brought into the continuous flow.

Certified for use by DNV, the VIKING Helix supports a wide range of vessel configurations and is especially suited to larger ferries and small to mid-size cruise ships. Installed at heights ranging between 5 and 23 meters, the system requires no welding on the ship side, making integration straightforward into newbuild and retrofit projects.

For heights of up to 12 meters, the VIKING Helix features a patent-pending bowsing system which automatically activates cylinders after raft ballast water bags are filled to maintain position manual bowsing. Bowsing line tightening is the failing most frequently reported in evacuation training.

Harbor trials at the VIKING Testing Center in Esbjerg focused on materials, structural integrity and system behavior, with volunteers of different ages and physical conditions moving through the slide and boarding life rafts. Subsequent heavy-weather sea trials in the North Sea verified performance in waters where wind, waves and motions tested the slide’s movement with a vessel and control over evacuee descent in changing trim and list conditions.

Minimized operational disruption is also designed in to a system which requires service at an authorized service station once every 30 months.