VIKING Upgrades Undertun Commuter Ferry Evacuation System
VIKING Life-Saving Equipment has expanded the capacity and capabilities of its Undertun commuter ferry evacuation system, as part of development work which also confirms the solution surpasses open sea performance requirements in SOLAS and the IMO code for High Speed Craft.
After acquiring all Undertun design, production and supply rights last year, VIKING has made two key upgrades to a system that is widely used in sheltered waters in Norway. It has added a 203-person capacity life raft to the 101- and 153-person units previously available, and a new activation capability that allows Undertun to be released with ease from the system, from the bridge, or even from shore.
Undertun is a self-contained gangway and inflatable life raft unit that can be fully integrated with a ship side shell door. Especially appealing for low height ships where crew numbers are limited, its accumulator-controlled gangway absorbs relative ship-raft motions, while separate "grip" and smooth surfaces allow walk-off or slide-off evacuation.
SOLAS requires most ferries to have enough evacuation capacity on each side to disembark all passengers. Today, some commuter ferries carry up to 399 passengers. With two disembarkation points per side, operators have relied on two life rafts per point. With one 203-person VIKING life raft, each point can evacuate 200 passengers—reducing the number of rafts, simplifying the evacuation and needing fewer crew members.
VIKING’s 203-person life raft is already recognized for performance equivalence to conventional lifeboats by the Danish Maritime Authority, Bahamas Maritime Authority and UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency in a separate application. As part of VIKING’s Undertun concept development, DNV has verified the entire system achieves SOLAS and HCC compliance outside sheltered waters.
VIKING will formally introduce the new 203-capacity life raft for Undertun at Nor-Shipping 2025, June 2-6, NOVA Spektrum, Lillestrøm. Find out more at stand (C03-36b).