This paper examines the applicability of formal safety assessment to the passenger ships. This is followed by an analysis of passenger ship characteristics and a proposed formal safety assessment methodology. Five interlocking steps are described to construct a safety model including novel risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis and decision-making approaches. A case study is carried out in order to demonstrate the proposed methodology. Further development in formal safety assessment in the context of passenger ship safety is finally discussed in detail.
Most real world design evaluation and risk-based decision support combine quantitative and qualitative (linguistic) variables. Decision making based on conventional mathematics that combines qualitative and quantitative concepts always exhibit difficulty in modelling actual problems. The successful selection process for choosing a design/procurement proposal is based on a high degree of technical integrity, safety levels and low costs in construction, corrective measures, maintenance, operation, inspection and preventive measures. In this paper, a design decision support framework using a composite structure methodology grounded in approximate reasoning approach and evidential reasoning method is suggested for design evaluation of machinery space of a ship engine room at the initial stages. An illustrative example is used to demonstrate the application of the proposed framework.