The safety of passengers and crew on ships is of paramount importance while ships are conducting their commercial activities. 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.
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. The number, capacity and type of life-saving appliances differ from ship to ship depending on its size, shipping activity and voyage, and the LSA Code stipulates minimum requirements to comply in order to make a ship safe for its passengers and crew.
International requirements contained in the IMO instruments for the life-saving appliances cover personal life-saving appliances such as lifebuoys, lifejackets, immersion suits, anti-exposure suits and thermal protective aids; visual aids, such as parachute flares, hand flares and buoyant smoke signals; survival craft, such as liferafts and lifeboats; rescue boats; launching and embarkation appliances and marine evacuation systems line throwing appliances; and general alarm and public address systems.
Liferaft
Liferafts are made of inflatable material, are not self propelled, are enclosed with a canopy, typically are equipped with a survival kit, and currently require annual servicing. Servicing is necessary because liferafts are exposed to a variety of extreme temperature, weather, and sea conditions while on board vessels.
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- Visual Inspection
- Inflation
- Roping & Glue
- Check & Supply for Survival Equipment
- Inspection, Test, & Supply for EPIRB
- Maintenance & Repair
- Certification by Qualified Inspector
- Documentation & Reports
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Lifeboat & Rescue Boat
Lifeboat and rescue boat are not the same thing. Lifeboat is a survival craft used for sustaining the lives of persons in distress from the time of abandoning the ship while rescue boat is to rescue a person in distress (overboard) and to board the ship. A routine maintenance and inspection is needed as it plays a crucial role for emergency situation at sea.
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- Visual Inspection
- Functional Testing
- Load Testing
- Equipment Inspection & Supply
- Engine & Propulsion System Inspection
- Steering System Inspection
- Electrical System Inspection
- Davit & Winch Inspection
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Personal Life Saving Appliances
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- Lifebuoys
- Lifejackets
- Immersion Suits
- Anti-Exposure Suits
- Thermal Protective Aids
- Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)
- Emergency Escape Breathing Device (EEBD)
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Visual Aids
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- Parachute Flares
- Hand Flares
- Bouyant Smoke SIgnals
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Other Life Saving Support Devices
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- Linethrowing Apparatus
- Pilot Ladder
- Man Over Board (MOB)
- EPIRB
- Launching & Embarkation Appliances
- etc.
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