What if you were in the middle of the sea on a sinking ship, what would you do? Many would go straight to the crew on the ship for guidance but on the Titanic, only a few of the crew members knew what to do during an emergency. On the 15th of April in 1912, the Titanic, a first class ship sunk with only 705 survivors out of the 2,200 passengers on board. The captain of the ship, Edward John Smith, crashed into a huge iceberg because it seemed to be small above water. The water began to flood the ship and a few hours later, the ship sunk. The ship had many design flaws that caused it to sink. There wasn't even enough life boats for everyone on the ship. Most of the men just brought their wife ...view middle of the document...
" Each lifeboat is able to hold 65 people in each one. Senior officers didn't know the lifeboats were tested and they did not want to risk putting more people in the lifeboats. The crew was not skilled in training to loading and lowering the lifeboats. Only some knew which lifeboat they were assigned to and the passengers did not know what to do too. At the convention for SOLAS, they agreed that every member of a ship must cooperate in practice drills and have easy access to training manuals. also, every week, a fire drill and an "abandon ship" must take place on each one of the passenger ships. In this way, emergencies will run more smoothly with everyone knowing where to go and what to do. The Public Address System was made so recreational boaters and anglers can easily share location of the safety equipment and how to use tools and gears like the VHF radio, distress flares, fire extinguisher, or the life jackets. Before boarding the Titanic, a lifeboat drill was supposed to be held but it was canceled because they were off schedule and the drill was not considered very important back then. "The life-preservers helped keep us warm, but the night was bitter cold, and it grew colder and colder, and just before dawn, the coldest, darkest hour of all, no help seemed possible."End of a Splendid Journey. The design of the lifeboat caused some people to die of hypothermia. It was just like a normal boat that was not meant for emergencies. The top of the boats were open so it did not give much protection. Under SOLAS, lifeboats must be fully or mostly enclosed so it would not be so cold in the boat. The new design needed a collapsible roof to fold across the boat. These advancements were made to help people in future emergencies so it would not end up like the Titanic.
Along with the changes of the design of ships, conventions and organizations were made. The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, which is abbreviated as SOLAS, was an international maritime safety treaty that assured ships flagged by signatory states comply with minimal safety requirements in construction, equipment, and operation. The United Kingdom Government wanted to have a conference to develop international regulations. It was attended by representatives from 13 countries. New many international requirements were introduced. Through the convention, the North Atlantic Ice Patrol was established and later renamed to the International Ice Patrol or IIP. It is an organization with the objective to look for icebergs in the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean. Once an iceberg is found, its every movement is reported. The average amount of icebergs traced every year is 1,000. Attempts were made to destroy them but with not much progress. The revenue Cuter Service served as an armed maritime law enforcement service. It doubled checks every year for glaciers so that ships aren't worried about bumping into one another. The EPIRBs and global positioning guaranteed that a ship...
