Annual liferaft servicing at an approved service station

Who may service a raft

SOLAS regulation III/20.8.1 requires every inflatable liferaft, inflatable lifejacket and marine evacuation system to be serviced at intervals not exceeding 12 months at an approved servicing station “which is competent to service them, maintains proper servicing facilities and uses only properly trained personnel”.²

IMO Resolution A.761(18), as amended, sets out what “approved” means. A station should have shown it can service and repack rafts for each manufacturer whose rafts it services. Its facilities should include:¹

• a fully enclosed, well-lit space out of direct sunlight, high enough to turn the largest raft over when inflated (or another way to inspect the bottom seams);
• a clean, smooth floor, controlled temperature and, where needed, humidity, ventilation without draughts;
• separate areas for rafts awaiting service, GRP container repairs and cylinder painting, spares, and offices;
• a separate, secure magazine for spare and obsolete pyrotechnics;
• accurate pressure gauges, thermometers and barometers, air pumps with dried air, scales for weighing gas cylinders, and gas for blowing through the inlet system;
• technicians “adequately trained and certificated by the liferaft manufacturer”, kept up to date with service bulletins.

The flag approves stations in its own country and may accept stations abroad approved by recognized organizations or other SOLAS governments.³ A.761(18) also says that, whenever practicable, a representative of the shipowner should be present during the service, a useful habit for a superintendent when a raft is nearing ten years old.¹

What happens at each service

Paragraph 5 of the A.761(18) annex lists the procedure, which is carried out to the manufacturer’s servicing manual:¹³⁵

1. Inspect the container for damage, and the folded raft and the inside of the container for dampness.
2. Do the pressure test due that year: working pressure (WP), gas inflation (GI) or necessary additional pressure (NAP). Each ends with a pressure-holding test of at least 1 hour with a drop of no more than 5% of working pressure.
3. While inflated, inspect the raft thoroughly inside and out, inflate and check the floor, and check the seams between floor and buoyancy tube for slippage or edge lifting.
4. From the tenth year, do the floor seam test: with the tubes supported so that the floor seams hang free, a person weighing at least 75 kg walks or crawls round the entire floor, then the seams are checked again.
5. After deflation, check the arch roots.
6. Check all equipment and replace dated items whose expiry date falls before the next service date of the raft (the rule since MSC.388(94) in 2014; previously items with less than 6 months left).⁵
7. For davit-launched rafts, a 10% overload suspension test at every second service. In years when it is done, the floor seam test may be omitted.³
8. Make sure the raft and the air are dry when repacking.
9. Update and check the markings.
10. Keep a record of the service for at least 5 years, and statistics of defects, repairs and condemned rafts for the flag.

Gas cylinders are weighed and checked to be gastight before they are fitted.¹

The test calendar

A.761(18) Appendix 2 sets which pressure test is done in which year:¹

The NAP test

In the NAP test the relief valves are plugged and the pressure is raised to the lesser of 2.0 times the working pressure, or the pressure that puts a tensile load of at least 20% of the fabric’s minimum required tensile strength on the tube. After 5 minutes there must be no seam slippage, cracking or significant pressure drop. If cracking is heard from the buoyancy tubes, the raft is condemned. Manufacturers publish tables of exact NAP pressures for each tube size.¹

Extensions: the 17-month rule and survey windows

The 12-month interval may be extended to 17 months “where in any case this is impracticable” (SOLAS III/20.8.1.1). This is the flag’s decision, not the ship’s. The UK, in its guidance on marine evacuation systems serviced under the same paragraph, stresses that “impracticable” should not be confused with inconvenient.²⁷

Some flags also accept servicing within the annual survey window. The Bahamas allows 12 months ± 3 months, up to 18 months from the last service, citing IMO circular MSC/Circ.955, without a separate application, but asks the company to tell the recognized organization (RO) first and recommends keeping the RO’s written confirmation with the service certificate to avoid port state control (PSC) questions. Any other extension must be applied for through the RO, must take account of dated items that will expire, and may never exceed 5 months.⁶

Extended service interval (30-month) liferafts

SOLAS III/20.8.3 lets an Administration that approves “new and novel” liferaft arrangements allow longer intervals, provided the raft is checked on board by certified personnel at the normal interval and serviced in line with IMO recommendations at intervals not exceeding 5 years.² The IMO guidelines for this, MSC.1/Circ.1328 (2009), say such rafts should be:⁴

• serviced at an approved station at intervals not exceeding 30 months for the first 10 years, then at the normal 12-month frequency (the flag may extend the 10-year limit on real-time evidence);
• inspected on board by manufacturer-certified personnel at intervals not exceeding 12 months, checking humidity around the raft and behind the protective barrier and checking the gas cylinder for leaks;
• serviced immediately if the on-board inspection finds a loss of inflation gas, and within 3 months if it finds excess humidity;
• marked to show they are approved for extended service intervals.

The Bahamas treats the 30 months as already extended and will not extend it further except for force majeure.⁶