Liferaft types and how they are stowed

The types you will meet

The International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code sets the build standard. Every liferaft must survive 30 days afloat in all sea conditions and work after being dropped into the water from 18 m. If it is stowed higher than 18 m above the lightest seagoing waterline it must be of a type drop-tested from at least that height. A raft that is not served by a launching appliance and is meant for side-to-side transfer must weigh no more than 185 kg with its container and equipment.³⁵

Each raft carries an emergency pack. The full pack, marked “SOLAS A PACK”, includes 4 rocket parachute flares, 6 hand flares, 2 buoyant smoke signals, food and 1.5 litres of water per person, seasickness tablets and thermal protective aids. Passenger ships on short international voyages may be allowed the smaller “SOLAS B PACK”.³

How many rafts a cargo ship carries

SOLAS regulation III/31 sets the number. A cargo ship with totally enclosed lifeboats on each side also carries liferafts for everyone on board. If these rafts are stowed for easy side-to-side transfer at a single open deck level, 100% capacity in total is enough. If not, each side needs rafts for 100% of the people on board. A ship with a stern free-fall lifeboat carries liferafts for 100% on each side, and the rafts on at least one side must be served by launching appliances. On a ship where the nearest survival craft is more than 100 m from the bow or stern, an extra raft goes as far forward or aft as is practicable; this raft may be fastened for manual release only.²

The stowage rules

SOLAS regulation III/13 says each survival craft must be stowed so it does not interfere with any other craft, as near the water as is safe, in a state of continuous readiness, fully equipped, and as far as practicable sheltered from damage by fire and explosion. For liferafts it adds three specific rules:¹

1. The painter is permanently attached to the ship.
2. Each raft or group of rafts has a float-free arrangement complying with LSA Code 4.1.6, so that it floats free and, if inflatable, inflates automatically when the ship sinks.
3. Rafts can be released by hand, one raft or container at a time.

The extra forward raft under III/31.1.4 is exempt from the first two. Davit-launched rafts must be stowed within reach of the lifting hooks. Throw-overboard rafts must be readily transferable to either side unless each side already has the full required capacity.¹

Ro-ro passenger ships have stricter rules: their liferafts must be served by marine evacuation systems or by launching appliances, have float-free stowage, boarding ramps, and be either self-righting or canopied reversible.¹¹

The float-free chain

LSA Code section 4.1.6 defines the painter system, the weak link and the HRU; the explorer above gives the requirement for each. Remember the order of events: HRU cuts the straps at no more than 4 m, the buoyant container rises and pulls out the painter, the pull fires the gas, the raft inflates, the weak link breaks. A fault anywhere in that chain stops the raft.³⁴

What the container tells you

Read the container label before anything else. The LSA Code lists what it must show: maker, serial number, approving authority and capacity, the word SOLAS, the type of emergency pack, the date of the last service, painter length, maximum permitted stowage height above the waterline, launching instructions and, since the 2008 amendments, the mass of the packed raft if it is over 185 kg.⁴⁵

Check that the stowage height on deck does not exceed the marked maximum, and that the painter length on the label suits the height of the cradle above the lightest seagoing waterline.

The crew’s routine

• Weekly: all survival craft and launching appliances are visually inspected to make sure they are ready for use, and the inspection is logged (SOLAS III/20.6).⁶
• Monthly: the life-saving appliances are inspected with the checklist from the ship’s on-board maintenance instructions (SOLAS III/36.1) and the result is entered in the log-book (SOLAS III/20.7.2).⁶
• Every four months, if davit-launched rafts are fitted: on-board training in their use, including inflation and lowering of a raft whenever practicable. A special training raft may be used if it is conspicuously marked and not counted as life-saving equipment (SOLAS III/19.4.3).⁷

A practical monthly walk-round for each raft: straps intact and correctly led to the HRU, HRU in date or in service, painter tied to the weak link, weak link shackled to a strong point, container undamaged with drain holes clear, label legible, service date within interval, nothing stowed on top or lashed across.