Active guidance systems in maritime evacuations: optimizing the lifeboat allocation for cruise ships
摘要
We study the evacuation of large cruise vessels under hazardous conditions. Based on a new sensor mesh technology, allowing wireless two-way communication also when electricity is lost, we propose an optimization-based procedure that provides real-time guidance to passengers. As a first step, we explore a lifeboat assignment procedure to illustrate some of the aspects linked to pedestrian evacuations on vessels and open the discussion for future work using operations research in a context where human behavior is part of the problem.