Simulation of passengers movement on ship emergencies: tools for IMO regulations fulfilment

The main objective of this paper is to present the conceptual design, models and user oriented software tools developed to apply the IMO passengers evacuation rules in an automatic way. A summary of the main ship evacuation problems, underlining the differences between land and ship emergency situation are presented. Also we present the related IMO regulations with an historic and present rules review. We show the different numerical model types used for the study of pedestrian movement and its evolution towards cellular agents models. Also we present an historic overview of the work made in this area by our Spanish research group. Finally the results inside the SIFBUP research project are presented. Its main aim is the analysis and simulation of the passengers flow aboard ships, specially focused in the resolution of problems related with ship evacuation in emergency situations