MAIB have issued a safety warning regarding drivers staying in their cabs whilst at sea on ferries.
gov.uk/maib-reports/safety- … are-at-sea
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When on the ferries between Italy and Greece motorhomes are hooked up to the mains and the owners are free to sleep in them .
Pretty sure many drivers stay in their cabs .
Many of the crossings are 15 hrs and over .
Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
For a few…
Weeks, there will be deckies everywhere making sure no one kips in their motors. They’ll soon get bored of doing it and then it’ll return to how it was.
yourhavingalarf:
For a few…Weeks, there will be deckies everywhere making sure no one kips in their motors. They’ll soon get bored of doing it and then it’ll return to how it was.
Exactly this.
grumpyken52:
When on the ferries between Italy and Greece motorhomes are hooked up to the mains and the owners are free to sleep in them .
Pretty sure many drivers stay in their cabs .
Many of the crossings are 15 hrs and over .Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
Staying in cab, on an open deck, when it’s known you are there, is very different to bring in a water-tight compartment you are banned from.
I know some who choose to stay down there, but not for me.
Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
Franglais:
grumpyken52:
When on the ferries between Italy and Greece motorhomes are hooked up to the mains and the owners are free to sleep in them .
Pretty sure many drivers stay in their cabs .
Many of the crossings are 15 hrs and over .Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
Staying in cab, on an open deck, when it’s known you are there, is very different to bring in a water-tight compartment you are banned from.
I know some who choose to stay down there, but not for me.Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
Choosing to stay in a cab rather than being able to have a proper (free) meal , a (free) shower , use of a ( free) cabin and being able to wander about is a no brainer for me . Many of the larger Baltic and Aegean boats are more like cruise liners than ferries and offer loads of entertainment over the course of up to 24 or 36 hours . Having many friends and relatives on ferries including "that " fateful one I am more than aware of how wrong things can go . 
Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
The Superfast and Minoan line ferries between Italy and Greece are really well appointed - as said like cruise ships - good tucker too.
TheUncaringCowboy:
yourhavingalarf:
For a few…Weeks, there will be deckies everywhere making sure no one kips in their motors. They’ll soon get bored of doing it and then it’ll return to how it was.
Exactly this.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+1
utter flash in the pan pish.
you will hardly see a deckie anywhere on the irish crosings,even on the p&o that a few trucks took a wobbler on…service resumed as normal.
mmmm!
I seem to remember after the Herald of Free Enterprise capsized that it became law to leave all vehicles on the car decks, A good friend of mine died as he slept in his cab when it rolled.
die in your own bed in the cab,die like a rat in a trap in a sweaty cabin,die on deck,drown or die of hypothermia within 5 mins…pick your own exit plan.
dieseldog999:
die in your own bed in the cab,die like a rat in a trap in a sweaty cabin,die on deck,drown or die of hypothermia within 5 mins…pick your own exit plan.
Shot in bed at 108 years of age.
By a jealous husband.
While being 100k overdrawn.
dieseldog999:
die in your own bed in the cab,die like a rat in a trap in a sweaty cabin,die on deck,drown or die of hypothermia within 5 mins…pick your own exit plan.
Fry or drown like a rat in a trap in your cab or while trying to escape from a closed locked car deck if/when you finally change your mind.
V
Wait for rescue by ship and/or helicopter or be directed to the life boats/rafts etc at the muster station having been alerted by the alarms to abandon ship.If not you end up in the water where you’ve still got a chance of being picked up by any of the above.Or at worse you don’t make it out and drown or fry just the same but the difference is at least you had a chance and if it all goes horribly wrong at least the chance of freezing to death in the water is better than burning alive locked in a closed car deck and no one bothering/wanting to find/release you.
Carryfast:
dieseldog999:
die in your own bed in the cab,die like a rat in a trap in a sweaty cabin,die on deck,drown or die of hypothermia within 5 mins…pick your own exit plan.Fry or drown like a rat in a trap in your cab or while trying to escape from a closed locked car deck if/when you finally change your mind.
V
Wait for rescue by ship and/or helicopter or be directed to the life boats/rafts etc at the muster station having been alerted by the alarms to abandon ship.If not you end up in the water where you’ve still got a chance of being picked up by any of the above.Or at worse you don’t make it out and drown or fry just the same but the difference is at least you had a chance and if it all goes horribly wrong at least the chance of freezing to death in the water is better than burning alive locked in a closed car deck and no one bothering/wanting to find/release you.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
the car decks are only locked from above to stop passengers getting back down to them…
any car deck can always be opened from the deck itself if you want to go up and end your life with the rest of the lemmings.
you can always exit the car decks at anytime throughout the crossing.
those lemmings will all be passing you on the way down to the sea,and its less of a jump when your halfway down anyway.
if your in a cabin and the gongs go off,your only going to be stuck in a jam the same as a football match coming out…were all doomed… 
dieseldog999:
you can always exit the car decks at anytime throughout the crossing.
In the (unlikely) event of an emergency, will the electric buttons to exit the doors work?
Or will the crew think it advisable that a watertight and fireproof door actually remains closed? And so lock off all compartments to stop spread of fire and smoke/fumes or flooding.
Franglais:
dieseldog999:
you can always exit the car decks at anytime throughout the crossing.In the (unlikely) event of an emergency, will the electric buttons to exit the doors work?
Or will the crew think it advisable that a watertight and fireproof door actually remains closed? And so lock off all compartments to stop spread of fire and smoke/fumes or flooding.
It all seems to come under SOLAS rules 11-1 20-3 and 20-4.
IE 20-4 says lock the doors in an emergency controlled centrally by order of the bridge and 20-3 says that no one should be down there unless the master knows about it.
Carryfast:
Franglais:
dieseldog999:
you can always exit the car decks at anytime throughout the crossing.In the (unlikely) event of an emergency, will the electric buttons to exit the doors work?
Or will the crew think it advisable that a watertight and fireproof door actually remains closed? And so lock off all compartments to stop spread of fire and smoke/fumes or flooding.It all seems to come under SOLAS rules 11-1 20-3 and 20-4.
IE 20-4 says lock the doors in an emergency controlled centrally by order of the bridge and 20-3 says that no one should be down there unless the master knows about it.
Seems common sense doesnt it? If theres a problem isolate it.
For those that don`t like sharing a cabin, get your boss to specify a single occupancy when booking, talk to the ferry company when booking on at the port, and/or go and see reception onboard.
i can see all the irish hauliers just wetting their pants to give the drivers a personal cabin.
as for asking when getting your ticket,ive tried saying im claustrophobic and could they put me in a cabin with a window with the reply being,“not a chance,they get used by the human being paying passengers that arnt truckie vermin”…sometimes it works if it suits them,but mostly its an internal cabin above the engines.
all thats missing is the can of zyclon b getting tossed in through the air vent.
on a good few ferries then the truck decks are semi open especially on the irish sea north and south so you can always jump ship if it suited you.
dieseldog999:
i can see all the irish hauliers just wetting their pants to give the drivers a personal cabin.
Nah! You cant mean that! I thought they paid good wages, AND would order any colour/spec truck their drivers wanted to keep em happy.
Just spend a bit of your mega dosh to get a cabin you tight git! 
wagewise,some do,most dont,and if you dont like the colour of your superspec gruntmobile,just work for someone else…and its the same as the mainland.,dung jobs ,dung wages,great jobs,mega wages,and all else inbetween.
theres just more scope for flexibility if you want to crack on and suit yourself with some of them.
its a 2 hour hop from cairnryan,so only time to grub up if you go upstairs sharp,then hop back down for a snooze but not always possible,so depending on the crossing time,its usually just a 2 hour doss for the sake of peace and quiet.the grubs not the worst,but gets a tad sameoldsameold sometimes.
the car alarms only go off for 5 mins when it moves,and 5 mins as it exits the loch. 