A ferry company in Norway plans to use lighting as a way to notify passengers who are hearing impaired when it is time to disembark.
Passengers on Torghatten Nord’s ‘Hinnøy NB1091’ electric ferry, which will operate between Bognes to Lødingen, west of Narvik, in Norway, will get an extra notification through the use of lighting in the ferry’s passenger lounge.
The 279 tuneable LED downlights (part of a total of 1,445 new marine lights on the vessel) will gradually brighten as the ferry approaches the harbour, alerting passengers to prepare to disembark.
This is something the company has argued will be particularly helpful for passengers who are hearing impaired and may not otherwise hear the docking being completed.
‘The lighting is connected to the vessel’s navigation and positioning system,’ said Tommy Stranden, chief sales and commercial officer at manufacturer Glamox’s marine, offshore and wind division, which supplied the lighting.
‘We use geofencing, which combines awareness of the vessel’s position with awareness of its proximity to its destination so that when the ferry reduces speed as it gets closer to the harbour, the colour temperature and intensity of the lighting increase. When it comes to a stop and docks, the lighting in the passenger lounge is on full,’ he added.
The 117m-long roll-on/roll-off passenger and vehicle ferry has a capacity for 399 passengers and 120 cars, making it the largest zero-emission ferry in Norway. It is scheduled to enter service later this year.
