Bomb alarm and evacuation of passengers on Ventura Cruiser

On Saturday morning, the Mayflower terminal in Southampton closed after notification of an explosive charge. From a cruiser Ventura, operated by the shipowner P&O Cruises, passengers and crew were evacuated. Police services secured the terminal area and mooring area Ventures And they searched the truck nearby.

Intervention on board a cruiser – time and coordination

According to passenger accounts, officers armed with long weapons and paralysers pulled a man from the ship's cabin by force. The entire evacuation operation ran smoothly – the terminal and ship left all passengers and crew members. Actions carried out in accordance with port security procedures. The pyrotechnics checked the designated vehicle (truck) and did not identify the presence of explosives. Police have detained a 63-year-old male suspect in an alert and given false information; he was released on bail and is due to appear in court on November 8.

At sea many operations can be deployed over time, while at the passenger port each minute takes on a special importance. After the decision to evacuate the ship and adjacent facilities, the service immediately designates a security zone and prepare escape corridors. Passengers are diverted to collection points or designated zones inside the terminal, and parallel pyrotechnics begin checking the designated locations. At the same time the police act against the notifier or suspect. Once the risk is confirmed, the port gradually resumes its work and the unit undergoes additional control procedures.

More than an incident – Procedure test

Similar events, although rare, are for ports a test of their ability to operate in real danger conditions. They require full cooperation of the port operator, shipowner, uniform and rescue services. In case of large ports, such as Southampton, even scenarios covering the simultaneous evacuation of two or three passenger ships are provided in contingency plans. This requires not only well prepared staff, but also infrastructure capable of accepting several thousand people evacuated in a short time.

Conclusions: industry under pressure

Although this time the alarm proved false, every such event affects the entire industry. The shipowner must bear the costs of delaying the trip, the port bears losses due to interruption of work and the reputation of both operators depends on how effectively and safely carried out evacuation. In a growing scale of hybrid threats – from cyber attacks to terrorist provocations – the passenger shipping sector must continuously improve procedures and improve the level of protection.

In this case Ventura and port Mayflower may treat the incident as a readiness test which, despite the disruption, has been passed. In the field of maritime safety, however, there is no place to reduce vigilance or to fail to improve procedures. Any such episode should result in further improvement of response plans and regular exercises involving all services.

Written by Mariusz Dasiewicz