The laws which have been mentioned as covering the construction of ships have reduced to a minimum the chances of foundering in the open sea. Disasters of this nature, formerly among the most common of disasters at sea, are now ex tremely rare and should be practically unknown except when a small ship is contending with a hurricane of great violence. A vessel of size sufficient to be rated as a passenger carrier, constructed in accordance with present-day laws, with water-tight compartments that are in fact water-tight, with cargo properly limited and properly stowed, and handled in ac cordance with the dictates of sound sea manship, should be able to ride out any gale so long as she has plenty of sea room. It is near the shore that gales and fog are most to be feared; for there conditions may prevent the manceuvers that would insure safety.
Danger from fire, once the most dreaded of all sea dangers, has been robbed of most of its terrors by the substitution of steel for wood in the interior fittings of steamers as well as in construction of the hulls; and it is only when a cargo of explosives or inflammable material is carried that the danger from this source becomes great. Here, again, modern law steps in to protect passengers, by limiting i the conditions under which inflammable cargo, and especially explosives, may be carried. As a rule, they are not per mitted at all on ships designed primarily for passenger traffic.
No degree of perfection in the equip ment of a ship can insure the safety of the ship or the passengers and crew unless the use of the equipment is thor oughly understood. On a well-ordered ship, drills are frequent, especially in fighting fire and handling boats, and these drills are doubly useful if they in clude participation,—necessarily super ficial,—by the passengers. Every pas senger should understand the significance of danger signals and what his part is to be in co-operation with the officers and crew. Every passenger should be fur nished a list of all signals which concern him, together with information as to the location and fitting of life-belts, and, most important of all, the number and location of the life-boat to which he is assigned. A preliminary drill at lowering boats should always be held before leaving port and the boats inspected as to their fittings and equipment; and as soon as convenient after leaving port, a drill at "Stations for Emergency" should be held, and each passenger required to go to the life-boat which he is to enter in case it becomes necessary to abandon the ship.
In addition to the normal equipment of the boats, each one should be provided with provisions and water sufficient for all occupants for at least a week. Other important items to be insisted upon are: compass, lead-line, lantern, rockets and other fire-works for signaling, buckets for bailing and other necessary purposes, mast and sails (may be useful for "sea anchor"), navigational books and instru ments.
Information should be given to all boats, of the course and distance to the nearest land or steamship lane.
Boats should be instructed to keep to gether if possible under authority of the senior officer of the group.
The rules regulating all of the matters that have been described are for United States vessels established by Congress and by regulations of the "Steam Boat In spection Service" of the Department of Commerce, and are published in a pam phlet entitled "General Rules and Reg ulations prescribed by the Board of Supervising Inspectors." For many years before the matter of safety at sea was taken up seriously by various maritime governments, many of the questions involved were efficiently controlled by private companies interested in marine insurance. These companies based their rates for insurance upon re quirements of their own making which covered primarily matters involved in the safety of the ship and cargo, but which at the same time covered, necessarily, safety of life, though omitting many de tails now covered by laws which make safety of life their first concern. The principal companies of this kind are the following: The Bureau Veritas, French (1828) ; Lloyd's Register, British (1834) ; The German Lloyd, German (1867) ; and The American Bureau of Shipping (1867). These companies will doubtless continue their existence and activities, which are purely commercial, not humani tarian, although their work is to a great extent duplicated by the governmental agencies above described.