The first Open Workshop jointly organised by the SAFEDOR consortium and the Royal Institution of Naval Architects in London has shown considerable success. More than 180 marine engineers, naval architects and others discussed the latest developments in risk based design. The one day workshop dealt with risk-based ship design and approval process risk evaluation criteria, FSA studies on selected ship types (Cruise Ship & LNG), design tools for safety performance prediction, innovative safety-critical technologies and the validation and application for innovative ship designs.

The discussion on design tools for safety performance prediction focused on the development and enhancement of tools to predict the safety performance of ships in extreme and accidental conditions. Five topics were dealt with: fast and accurate flooding prediction of complex compartment configurations, prediction of failure of hull girder, prediction of capsize probability, prediction of collision and grounding probability taking into account system and human failures, and prediction of fire events for cargo and passenger ships.

A total of 53 project partners from all sectors of the maritime industry in Europe are participating in the research project "Design, Operation and Regulation for Safety". SAFEDOR is coordinated by Germanischer Lloyd. The research project recognises the key role played by European companies in the design, construction and operation of modern, seagoing vessels. European expertise and involvement are particularly strong for those sophisticated ship types where safety is afforded the highest priority, e.g. roll-on/roll-off passenger ships, cruise ships, gas tankers and container ships. SAFEDOR covers many of the challenges confronting the maritime industry, e.g. the high expectations of the public in terms of the safe performance of ships; the strong quest to provide innovative and more competitive designs; the increasing complexity of equipment, materials and systems utilised onboard ship; and the need to consider, at the design stage, the life-cycle of a ship.