What are the lifeboat Regulations/Requirements As Per SOLAS?

The carriage of life-saving appliances are made mandatory as per the SOLAS Convention. The International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code provides more specific technical requirements for the manufacturing, testing, maintenance and record keeping of life-saving appliances.

Therefore, ships must carry appropriate life-saving appliances, including lifeboats, lifebuoys, life-jackets, liferafts and many others to be used by passengers and crew in case of emergency to protect their lives at sea.

In the decades since it became a requirement that lifesaving appliances are available for everyone on board a vessel, many design features of lifeboats and their launching systems have changed. These have usually been in response to the demands for larger lifeboat capacity, greater protection for those using them, ease of operation and enhanced safety.

Force for major change has usually come from recommendations following high profile accidents where there has been heavy loss of passenger life, most notably the Titanic in 1912. Although lifeboats have been used on many occasions since then and, most noticeably, in two world wars, there have been very few changes to lifeboat design and equipment even though many professional seafarers have lost their lives while using them.

According To LSA Code, Chapter 3,Reg. 4.4

General requirements for lifeboat:

1.All lifeboat shall be of sufficient strength to:

 a.Enable them to safely lunch when fully loaded with their full complete of person and equipment.

 b.Be capable of launched and towed when a ship is making headway at a speed of 5 knots in clam water.

2.Except for free fall, each other lifeboat to be launched by falls shall be of sufficient strength to withstand when loaded with its full complement of person and equipment and with applicable skates or fenders in position, a lataral impact against ship side at an impact velocity of atleast 3.5m/sec and also a drop into water from a height of at least 3 meters.

3.The size, number and the capacity of the lifeboat for a merchant vessel is decided by the type of the ship and number of ship’s crew, but it should not be less than 7.3 m in length and minimum two lifeboats are provided on both side of the ship (port and starboard).

4.The requirement for the lifeboat of a cargo ship with 20,000 GT is that the boat must be capable of launching when the ship is heading with a speed of 5 knots.

5.The lifeboat must carry all the equipment described under SOLAS which can be used for survival at sea. It includes rations, fresh water, first aid, compass, distress signaling equipment like rocket etc.

6.The ship must carry one rescue boat for rescue purpose along with other lifeboats. One lifeboat can be designated as a rescue boat if more then one lifeboat is present onboard ship.

7.The gravity davits must be held and slide down the lifeboat even when the ship is heeled to an angle of 15 degrees on either side. Ropes are used to hold the lifeboat in the stowed position with the cradle. These ropes are called gripes.

8.The wires which lift or lower the lifeboat are known as falls and the speed of the lifeboat descent should not be more than 36m/ min which is controlled by means of centrifugal brakes.

9.The hoisting time for the boat launching appliance should not be less than 0.3 m/sec with the boat loaded to its full capacity.

10.The Lifeboat must be painted in international bright orange color with the ship’s call sign printed on it.

11.The lifeboat station must be easily accessible for all the crew members in all circumstances. Safety awareness posters and launching procedures must be posted at lifeboat station.

12.Regular drills must be carried out to ensure that the ship’s crew members are capable of launching the boat with minimal time during a real emergency.

Must Read: Lifeboat Engine Regulations As Per SOLAS.