SHEE-39 Response Historic AI-assessed

Develop simple methods for bridging shafts in passenger compartments

Recommendation

While suggestions have been made as to the desirability of finding some means of bridging these shafts, it is the view of the Department of Transport that this is not really practicable. the Court is not convinced by this. It considers that simple methods of bridging should be developed. For example, split deckhead panels hinged in way of the sides of a longitudinal passage could be arranged so that with the ship on her beam ends one of these panels could be brought down and made to bridge the gap. It would be self-supporting if it extended fore and aft beyond the sides of the transverse alley way. There may well be better methods, but some such simple device should be developed and made a requirement.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
No specific government response or evidence of action regarding the development of simple methods for bridging shafts in passenger compartments has been identified in the provided public sources. General searches on GOV.UK for "Sheen Inquiry recommendation implementation" and "Sheen Inquiry government response" yielded numerous results, but no specific documents detailing progress on this recommendation were provided. A search on legislation.gov.uk for "Sheen Inquiry" returned no results.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Historic

No government response recorded.

Source
Report Sheen Inquiry — Final Report 24 Jul 1987
Recommendation age 38.7 yrs
Last formal update No formal updates