MES has gained popularity over the past few decades due to its mass evacuation ability.^[3] It is one of the only life saving appliance (LSA) that can evacuate over 700 people in 30 minutes.^[4] It is a well-tested technology gaining vast popularity in the industry due to its ship safety enhancing capabilities in emergency situations. It has been tested in Beaufort Sea State 6 winds and 3,^[5] wave heights and the slide prototype has been tested in accordance with EU Directive of Marine Equipment 96/98/EC and IMO Resolution A689(17) as amended.^[6]

MES requires only one or two staff members to deploy. The chute automatically falls into the water where a life raft starts to inflate; the whole process takes approximately 90 seconds, with some systems claiming to fully inflate within one minute.^[7] Once the lifeboat has been inflated, people are asked to jump down through the air-cushioned chutes into the rafts, which can hold more than 700 people.^[8]

The MES consists of five components.

• Controls – used to initiate the device in an emergency situation.^[9]
• Stowage box – contains essentials for the evacuation, including the chute and the fixed appliances, such as seats, rails, etc.^[10] Composed of marine grade aluminum along with inflation cylinders, usually kept on the deck taking as little as 4 m² of storage space. It is considered to be lightweight, weighing around 685 kg including the life rafts stored inside.^[11]
• Chute or Slide – attached to the ship and life rafts, it is stored in the stowage box.^[12] Inflatable slides are composed of polyurethane coated nylon fabrics making it sturdy. It ranges up to 13.6 m in height, including single and double evacuation slides depending on the vessels preference.^[13]
• Rafts – are the floatable boats used in an emergency event. Depending on the MES system, there are usually 1-4 rafts in the stowage box.^[14]
• Bowsing winch – in an electric system that is used to transport the raft from the ship to the side of the ship.^[15]

• Chute and Dual Chute Systems – commonly used on large cruise ships, they take little space, and provide fast evacuation for large numbers of people.^[16]
• Mini Chute Systems – used by smaller vessels that have a low embarkation deck. It is light in weight and compact, therefore easily stored in the stowage box, and can be assembled anywhere on the vessel.^[17]
• Slide Systems – is an inflatable slide that attaches to the access point of the evacuation, similar to the ones on aircraft.^[18]
• Mini Slide Systems – used by ferries and yachts that have a low embarkation deck^[19]
• Direct boarding life rafts – used for vessels with low deck heights because it floats parallel to the vessel, requiring people to directly jump onto the raft. It is ideal for mass evacuations.^[20]