Survitec’s revolutionary Seahaven, the world’s largest inflatable lifeboat, has won the technology category of this year’s Safety4Sea awards.

The self-propelled inflatable lifeboat surpassed Safety4Sea’s judging criteria of providing a “significant technological achievement or significant contribution to maritime safety”.

Seahaven, officially introduced to the market in April, is already redefining how passengers and crew evacuate ships in an emergency, with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH), Independent Maritime Advisors Ltd, and a major shipbuilder looking at incorporating the system into new designs.

Typically, a 4,000-passenger capacity cruise ship would require at least 12 to 16 lifeboats and up to four MES with liferafts. Just four Seahavens would be required to evacuate the same number of passengers in the same amount of time, freeing up 85% of cruiseship space for new passenger experiences.

Claude Sada, Managing Director, Survival Craft at Survitec, said: “We are delighted Seahaven won this important award so soon after its official market launch earlier this year. At Survitec, we continue to push boundaries and look for new, innovative ways to protect lives at sea. This award indicates the important contribution Seahaven will make to cruiseship safety.”

Commenting on the accolade during yesterday’s virtual awards ceremony, Stew Gregory, who led the Survitec design team, said: “On behalf of our Seahaven team, I am thrilled to receive the 2022 Safety4Sea Technology Award. I would like to pay particular tribute to my colleagues at Survitec for their vision, insight, innovation and dedication in bringing this idea to life and to market.

“With Seahaven, we have provided a safe alternative to conventional lifeboats. We have optimised our revolutionary helical slide technology to achieve a rapid four-minute deployment time and minimise crew actions and the margin for operator error. We have also solved the significant challenge of being able to evacuate a growing number of cruise passengers quickly, safely and comfortably.”