ISO E055 Marine evacuation chute Sign

Meaning of ISO 7010 E055

E055 marks the station of a chute-type marine evacuation system: a vertical or near-vertical fabric trunk through which evacuees descend from the embarkation deck to a floating platform, from which crew load them into liferafts. The green square depicts the figure inside the descending chute — the detail that separates this sign from E054, where the figure rides down an open slide.

The chute concept trades the slide's straightforward glide for compactness and height capability. Because the descent path is enclosed and essentially vertical, the system needs little horizontal clearance from the hull and can serve embarkation decks far above the waterline, which is why chute installations appear on large cruise ships and other high-freeboard tonnage where an inclined slide would be impractically long.

What Descending a Chute Involves

An evacuee entering the marked station steps into the top of the trunk and descends inside it, slowed by the chute's internal arrangement — baffles, spiral fabric, or a zig-zag path depending on the manufacturer — using elbows and knees against the structure to control speed. The enclosure means no view of the drop and no exposure to wind or spray on the way down, and each person exits at the bottom onto the platform where crew assist them clear for the next arrival.

Deployment mirrors other MES types: crew activate the container, the trunk and platform inflate or lower into position, and trained members go down first to run the platform and marshal the rafts. Loading discipline at the top matters, since spacing between descending evacuees is what keeps the flow safe — the crew member controlling the entry releases each person only when the trunk below is clear, keeping throughput high without stacking bodies in the tube.

Choosing Between E055 and E054

The two symbols exist so signage can match hardware, and the deciding fact is the installed system, never aesthetics. If the equipment at the station is an enclosed vertical trunk, sign it E055; an open inclined slide takes E054. The passenger-facing difference is real: a chute asks people to commit to entering a dark tube and actively brake, a slide asks them to sit and let go, and briefing materials on well-run ships describe the specific action their system requires.

Both families answer to the same regulatory frame — SOLAS Chapter III carriage arrangements and the LSA Code's chapter on marine evacuation systems — and both symbols arrived in ISO 7010 when the IMO location markings for lifesaving appliances were folded into the standard's E-series. That shared lineage is why the pair reads as siblings: identical color, identical station logic, one decisive pictogram difference.

Station Signage and Readiness

Place E055 on the stowage container and at the deck entry point of each chute, with route signage from the assembly stations whose complements the system will take. Supplementary panels give crew the operating sequence and the system's certified capacity; on ships where several stations exist per side, each is identified so the muster organization can direct groups without improvisation.

Like all packed evacuation systems, a chute is proven by its servicing and rotational deployment schedule rather than by inspection through the container wall, and crews rehearse activation and platform roles in drills. A visible, correctly chosen sign is the everyday evidence that the station is what the emergency plan says it is.

What is a marine evacuation chute?

A vertical fabric trunk, deployed from a deck-mounted container together with a floating platform, that lets evacuees descend inside it from the embarkation deck to the sea surface. Internal baffles or a spiral path control descent speed, and crew at the platform transfer arrivals into liferafts. Its station is marked with ISO 7010 E055.

How do you slow yourself down inside an evacuation chute?

By pressing elbows and knees outward against the chute's internal structure as you descend — the trunk is engineered so that this natural braced posture, guided by the baffles or spiral fabric, keeps descent at a safe speed. Crew at the entry control spacing so each person has a clear trunk below them.

Why do some ships have chutes and others have slides?

Freeboard and deck space largely decide it. Chutes descend vertically, so they suit very high embarkation decks and tight installations; slides need more outboard reach but give a quicker, more intuitive ride at moderate heights. The operator's choice of certified system determines whether the station carries E055 or E054.

Is a marine evacuation chute safe for elderly passengers?

The systems are type-approved for the full passenger demographic, and the enclosed descent removes the visual drop that deters many people. That said, the descent does require some active bracing, so crew are trained to assist hesitant or less mobile passengers at the entry and to route those who cannot use the system to alternative craft under the ship's evacuation plan.