Waterproof flashlight, boat shoes (stick to the deck at almost any angle. Wet or dry), knowing when to run. From what I've heard of the survivors accounts, they stayed put until the compartments they were in started flooding.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/16/world/asia/survivors-korea-ferry/index.html?hpt=bosread
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Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane