Are You Doing All These Checks on

Your Davit Type Lifeboats

Written by Capt Rajeev Jassal on August 18, 2016

I earlier said, Life saving equipments are the best friends we have
on board. And it is our responsibility to keep these in shape.
Each life saving equipment is our friend and we all agree that. But
like in real friends we need to give Life saving equipment our
time that it deserves.
How about saying a Hello to lifebuoy once every month. Or
saying hello to lifeboat engine every week by testing it.
If we give our time to these appliances, these will remain our
friends. If we do not, they will not. It is a simple give and take.

For example, Let me tell a short story of the times I was a 2nd
mate.
The third mate told me, what can happen to a lifebuoy during its
lifetime. These are there and we just need to check if these are in
numbers that is required.
Few day after, during PSC inspection it was found that lifebuoys
were too heavy. Lifebuoys had the sea water soaked into it
through a plug that was supposed to be watertight.
You see how these friends can get angry !!
But can we keep these in shape if we do not know what is required
to maintain these. Or what elements we need to check for life
saving equipments.
This guide will deal with the inspections required on davit type
lifeboats as well as the best way to conduct the inspection.
Let us start.

Life boat (except free fall lifeboats)

Lifeboat is the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about
life saving appliances. But an empty lifeboat will be as bad as no
lifeboat on ship. And defective equipments inside lifeboat will be
as bad as an empty lifeboat.
Let us see what we need to do to ensure that lifeboat will be ready
to help if required.

a) Checking the inventory

Frequency: Every month, Applicable to all ships
Ref: SOLAS Chapter III/20.7.2
As per SOLAS Chapter III/20.7.2, ships officer should check the
inventory of the lifeboat equipment at least once every month.
Most companies will have a checklist for this in their SMS manuals.
Apart from physically checking the inventory, look for following

Check that food ration packets are sealed and have vacuum.

Check the expiry date of items like food ration, first aid kit,
fresh water packets etc. Sometimes you will find the radar
reflector with the expiry if it of cloth type.

If one SART is placed in the lifeboat, check its operation with

X-band radar.

b) Moving the lifeboat from the stowed position

Frequency: Every week, Applicable to all ships
Ref: SOLAS Chapter III/20.6.3
SOLAS require that at least every week the lifeboats should be
moved from its stowed position.
Many PSC inspections findings report that many lifeboats would
not move when winch brake is lifted. Most of the time reason for
the lifeboat not moving is

Frozen sheaves

Davit arm stuck with the ship structure

Harbor pin stuck because of rust, bent pin or because of it

holding davit weight.

Whatever the reason, if we move the lifeboat from its stowed

position every week ensures the lifeboat readiness.

c) Turning out from stowed position

Frequency: Every month, Applicable to all ships
Ref: SOLAS Chapter III / 20.7.1
We might get confused between moving from stowed position and
turning out from stowed position. When we talk about moving out,
we are required to move the lifeboat slightly. By turning out we
need to lower the boat to the level where boat will be directly
above water.
Usually this requirement is fulfilled during monthly lifeboat drill
when we turn out the lifeboat from its stowed position.

d) Test run lifeboat engine

Frequency: Every week, Applicable to all ships
Ref: SOLAS Chapter III / 20.6.2 and MSC.1 / Circ 1206/Rev 1
A lifeboat is of no use if it cannot move away from a sinking ship.
Or if it cannot move to the helping ship. We need to test the
lifeboat engine every week.
But wait, what can happen to the lifeboat engine if we had tested
it few months back ? You would be surprised to know that for
the lifeboat related PSC deficiencies, more than 20% were for
failing to start the lifeboat engine.

Remember, we need to say hello to all of our friends.

Coming back to the question !! What can happen to the lifeboat
engine if we did not say hello every week by testing ?

You may not realize that fuel tank is below the required level.

You may not realize that starting batteries are either dead or
are not charging. Or after the last lifeboat drill, someone forgot to
connect the battery charger

You may not realize that the engine is not starting in cold
conditions.

All these points we can realize if we say hello to the lifeboat

engine every week.

e) Visual inspection of lifeboat and launching

appliances
There are few things that can only be inspected by naked eyes. No
testing but just with the naked eyes. Visual inspection of the
lifeboat aim to cover that.
While making visual inspection, look for

any signs of lifeboat hull damage or cracks

faded marking on the lifeboat

Damages or old Retro-reflective tapes

f) Self contained air support system

Applicable to: tankers
Ref: MSC.1/Circ.1206/Rev.1
Self contained air support system is used to maintain a positive
pressure inside the boat. This prevents any toxic vapors to enter
inside the lifeboat while abandoning the vessel in toxic
environment.

Let us see what we need to do to make this friend happy.

i) Monthly pressure check
We cannot use this system if the air bottles are empty. Every
month we need to check if the air bottles are full. Upto 10%
decrease in bottle pressure is allowed.
Most of the time there are three air bottles of around 45 Litres
capacity.

After you have checked the pressure of one bottle, we must

ensure that we release the pressure in the line before we check
the pressure of other bottles.
ii) Annual inspection by Shore
Reference: MSC.1/Circ.1206/Rev.1
MSC circular require the lifeboat air bottles to be visually
examined by a competent authority atleast every year. This
inspection is limited to

checking the external condition

Checking the pressure of the air bottles

Checking any Leakage the air line

iii) Pressure testing of the air bottles

Ref: Class rules

Frequency: Every 5 year

While the pressure testing of the bottles is not a SOLAS
requirement, but it required as per rules of Internaltion associated of
classification societies.

Every 5 years (usually during 5 yearly dry docking of the vessel),

the air bottles are taken ashore and pressure tested to 1.5 times
the working pressure.
A certificate of pressure testing of life boat air bottles need to be
on board.

g) Lifeboat sprinkler system

The sprinkler system is required on the lifeboats of all oil
tankers. And the idea of lifeboat sprinkler is same as is with any
sprinkler system. To distinguish the fire.

Lifeboat sprinkler system is used if the oil fire has enveloped the
lifeboat. To ensure that lifeboat sprinkler system can work in
emergency would require regular testing. Here is how we can
ensure this.
Test Every 3 month by ship staff & yearly by the maker
Ref: MSC.1/Circ.1206/Rev.1
During every occasion of launching the lifeboat into the water, we
must test the sprinkler system. The components to check are

All the nozzles are open and not clogged.

The Sprinkler pump is free to rotate and can taken suction
from the sea.
The sprinkler system open-close valve is free to move

These tests are then required to be done by the maker during the
annual thorough inspection of the lifeboat.
Lifeboat sprinkler system lines do not like the seawater to be
retained in it for long time as the salt can block the nozzles. For
this reason we must flush the sprinkler system with fresh water
each time we test it with sea water.

Lifeboat Launching Appliances

Lifeboat needs some means to lower it. We should be able to
lower Lifeboats without depending upon the ships power supply.
That makes the gravity type lifeboat davits a first choice for the
shipyards and ship owners.

In this type of launching appliances, we just need to release the

brake to lower the lifeboat.
SOLAS require that we test these launching appliance periodically.
After all our friends friend is our friend too. Isnt it ?
Let us see how regulations require us to take care of the launching
appliances

a) Annual thorough inspection of lifting appliances

Ref: SOLAS III/20.11.1.2 and MSC.1/Circ.1206/Rev.1/Appendix of
Annex 1, para. 2.8 and 2.9 as applicable
SOLAS require the Maker to carry out annual thorough inspection
of the lifeboat launching appliances.
The launching appliance have different components and MSC
circular provides complete guidance on element to check on these
components. Let us see what elements are inspected during
annual thorough inspection
i) Lifeboat Davit
Every year, lifeboat davit is checked for any
corrosion, misalignments, deformations and excessive free

play

lubrication of wires, sheaves and moving parts

functioning of limit switches

Any stored power systems or hydraulic system

ii) Davit Winch

The main element of a davit winch is the braking system. If the
brakes are not in good condition, lifeboat operations are liable to
cause accidents.
There are two brakes in the gravity type lifeboats. One that holds
the vessel (static brake) and second that controls the lowering
speed (centrifugal brake).
During annual inspection by the maker, the brakes are opened up
and condition of brake pads is checked. The brake pads are
replaced if required.
Other than brake pads, the inspection of davit winch includes

checking the condition of remote lowering system. Remote

lowering of the lifeboat is done by a small wire that leads to inside
the lifeboat. Pulling this wire lifts the brake handle remotely which
lowers the boat. Sometimes you will also find remote lowering
system on lifeboat deck from where the lowerer can visually see
the lifeboat overside.
Checking the power supply system for hoisting the lifeboat
Checking the visual condition of winch foundation to ensure
that it can take the load of the boat.

b) Dynamic winch brake test

Winch brake is an important part of the launching system which if
fails can result in disastrous situations. So it is not just enough to
inspect the which brake and replace the brake pads.

SOLAS require the maker to perform dynamic winch brake test. In

the dynamic brake the boat is lowered by opening the brake.
When it achieves the maximum lowering speed, the brake is
applied abruptly. The brake pad and davit foundation is then
inspected.

i) Annual winch dynamic brake test

Ref: SOLAS III/20.11.1.3 and MSC.1/Circ.1206/Rev.1/Appendix of
Annex 1, para. 3.1 and 3.3 as applicable
Every year the dynamic load test is done with weight of the boat
and its equipments.
ii) 5 Yearly winch dynamic brake test

Ref: SOLAS III/20.11.1.3 and MSC.1/Circ.1206/Rev.1/Appendix of

Annex 1, para. 3.2 and 3.3 as applicable
Every 5 years the dynamic brake test is done with the weight of
the lifeboat and its equipment alongwith the weight of the number
of persons that lifeboat is designated for.
For the calculation, the weight of a person is taken as 75 Kgs. But
for the following vessels the weight of the person is taken as 82.5
Kgs
1.

Cargo vessels with keel laid on or after 01st July 2010 or

where lifeboat is installed after this date.

2.

For all other vessels with keel laid on or after 01st January
2012 or where lifeboat is installed after this date.

Conclusion
Shipping has become safer nowadays but even the unsinkable
ship had to use the lifeboats on its maiden voyage. And when they
required it, either the lifeboat was not ready or the people
handling it.
The design and other requirements about lifeboats have changed
drastically since then. All it requires now is for us to make sure
that we follow the routine set out in SOLAS, company manual,
MSC circulars and any other regulations.