Lifeboatman — Survival Craft, Davits and Launching Appliances

What the rule requires

The governing principle is in 46 CFR §199.150(d): a launching appliance must not depend on any means other than gravity or stored mechanical power, independent of the vessel's power supplies, to launch the craft it serves — in the fully loaded and equipped condition and in the light condition. Any answer option that has the ship's electrical or hydraulic power doing the launching is wrong on its face.

The test condition attached to that is 10 degrees of trim and 20 degrees of list, either way, and the appliance must meet it twice over: with the craft loaded with its full complement of persons, and with not more than the required operating crew on board. The structural attachment to the vessel must be designed to at least 4.5 times the load imparted by the appliance and its fully loaded craft under the most adverse combination of list and trim. Each appliance is approved under 46 CFR part 160, subpart 160.132 for the intended craft, with a winch approved under subpart 160.115; a davit-launched liferaft adds an automatic disengaging apparatus approved under subpart 160.170.

Two observation duties sit in different sections, and exam writers know it. During launching, the arrangement must let the operator on the deck observe the survival craft at all times. During recovery, the requirement is in 46 CFR §199.155(b), which requires the arrangement to allow the operator on the vessel to observe the lifeboat at all times.

Also in §199.150: the same type of release mechanism for each similar craft carried; the appliance remains effective under conditions of icing; and during preparation and launching the craft, the appliance and the water it is launched into must be illuminated from the vessel's emergency source of electrical power.

Lifeboat-specific arrangements come from §199.155. The appliance must be capable of launching and recovering the lifeboat with its crew, and must be designed so persons can safely disembark before the boat is stowed. Every lifeboat other than a totally enclosed lifeboat gets a davit span with not less than two lifelines, long enough to reach the water with the vessel in its lightest seagoing condition, under unfavorable trim, and listed up to 20 degrees either way.

When an appliance is required at all

Under §199.150(b), every survival craft needs a launching appliance or marine evacuation system unless it falls in a named exception. The exception that gets tested is the first: the craft can be boarded from a position on deck less than 4.5 meters (14.75 feet) above the waterline in the lightest seagoing condition, and is stowed for launching directly from the stowed position under trim of 10 degrees and list of 20 degrees. Both halves must be satisfied. The remaining exceptions turn on craft carried in excess of 200 percent of the persons on board, or craft used with a marine evacuation system.

For inflatable liferafts and inflatable buoyant apparatus, 46 CFR §180.150 works the other way round and states the triggers positively. An appliance or an approved marine evacuation system is required when the embarkation station is on a deck more than 4.5 meters (15 feet) above the waterline, or when the raft or apparatus is boarded before being placed in the water. The second trigger has no height in it at all — a raft boarded on deck needs an appliance however low that deck is.

An embarkation ladder is a separate question with its own number: required at each embarkation station when the distance from that deck to the vessel's lightest operating waterline is more than 3,050 millimeters (10 feet).

Stowage figures worth knowing cold

46 CFR §199.130 sets the general stowage rules: as close to accommodation and service spaces as possible, as near the water surface as is safe and practicable, and clear of any other station's embarkation and operation. Except for liferafts intended for throw-overboard launching, stowage must be not less than 2 meters above the waterline with the vessel fully loaded, under unfavorable trim, and listed up to 20 degrees either way or to the angle at which the weatherdeck edge submerges, whichever is less.

Nothing may require lifting from the stowed position to launch, with two exceptions: a davit-launched liferaft may be lifted from stowed to embarkation position by a manually powered winch, and a craft of 185 kilograms (407.8 pounds) or less may be lifted not more than 300 millimeters (1 foot).

A liferaft with no maximum stowage height marked on its container goes not more than 18 meters (59 feet) above the waterline in the lightest seagoing condition. Each liferaft must permit manual release from its securing arrangements, must be able to drop into the water from the deck it is stowed on, must have a painter system connecting it to the vessel, and must be arranged for float-free launching with a hydrostatic release unit approved under approval series 160.162.

Lifeboats lowered down the side go as far forward of the propeller as practicable and are stowed attached to their launching appliance. 46 CFR §199.230 puts a number on the propeller clearance for a passenger vessel of 80 meters (262 feet) and upwards: the after end of the lifeboat at least 1.5 times the length of the lifeboat forward of the propeller. The same section says davit head height in the launch position should not, as far as practicable, exceed 15 meters (49 feet) to the waterline in the lightest seagoing condition.

The three clocks

Three time limits live in three different sections, and mixing them up is the single most reliable way to drop points here.

Less than 5 minutes — preparations for embarkation and launching, completed by two crew members, from the stowed condition. This is §199.130(a)(5), and it is about readiness, not about getting anyone off the ship.
30 minutes — all survival craft required for abandonment by the total number of persons on board, launched with their full complement of persons and equipment from the time the abandon-ship signal is given, under 46 CFR §199.245(b).
10 minutes — the same launching standard under 46 CFR §199.280(d), which is the section that also addresses cargo vessels of 20,000 gross tons and upwards.

§199.280 adds two arrangement requirements that read as separate questions. Each lifeboat must be boarded and launched directly from the stowed position. Cargo vessels of 20,000 gross tonnage or more must carry lifeboats capable of being launched, using painters if necessary, with the vessel making headway at speeds up to 5 knots in calm water.

Your vessel's rafts sit on a deck 3.8 metres above the light waterline, and the plan calls for them to be inflated and boarded at deck level before going over. Is a launching appliance required?

Yes. The 4.5-metre height trigger is only one of two triggers in §180.150(a). The other is that the raft is boarded prior to being placed in the water, and it carries no height qualifier. Height alone would have exempted this arrangement; the boarding method does not.

Equipment — work the column, not the item

46 CFR §199.175 is a table question factory, and the exam is open book, so the skill is landing on the right column before you read a number. Table 1 splits first by voyage (international, or short international) and then by craft: lifeboat, rigid liferaft, rescue boat. A boat that serves as both lifeboat and rescue boat carries the lifeboat column.

The values that recur, and that are easy to transpose:

Water: 3 litres per person in a lifeboat, 1.5 litres per person in a rigid liferaft on the SOLAS A pack. Up to one-third of the requirement may be met by an approved desalting apparatus, and up to two-thirds by a manually powered reverse-osmosis desalinator, each producing the substituted amount in 2 days.
The hatchet must not require assembly or unfolding, must be at least 14 inches long with a lanyard at least 3 feet, and is stowed in brackets near the release mechanism — and at opposite ends of the boat where more than one is carried.
Heaving line: buoyant, at least 30 metres (99 feet), with a buoyant rescue quoit on one end. Towline: buoyant, at least 50 metres (164 feet).
The float-free link on a rigid liferaft painter must break under 2.2 ± 0.4 kiloNewtons (400 to 536 pounds-force).
Fire extinguisher: rated 40-B:C, or two 10-B:C in its place.
Thermal protective aids: 10 percent, in every column.

The endorsement itself

46 CFR §12.407 requires the lifeboatman endorsement of every person filling a lifeboatman manning requirement on a U.S. vessel. Age is 18. The sea service is an either/or that candidates routinely collapse into one answer: 6 months in any department plus successful completion of an approved course, or 12 months in any department on ocean, coastwise, inland and Great Lakes routes.

The practical demonstration covers taking charge of a survival craft or rescue boat during and after launch, operating a survival craft engine, actually pulling an oar, managing craft and survivors after abandoning ship, safely recovering craft, and using locating and communication devices. The oral or other examination is conducted only in English and covers essential parts and required equipment, clearing away, swinging out and lowering, handling under oars and sails including heavy weather, and the operation and functions of commonly used davits.

Telling it apart

Davit families — the criterion is what carries the boat outboard

NAVEDTRA 14343 §5-1 sorts davits into three families.

Radial (round-bar) — the boat is stowed inboard and the arms are swung out by hand to plumb the boat over the side. Oldest and simplest, slow, needs many hands, now limited to small boats. Misfiled as "needs no power," which confuses being manual with launching by gravity.
Mechanical (crescent/quadrantal) — the boat is moved outboard by a screw or gear as the arms rotate, keeping the boat under control throughout the swing.
Gravity — releasing the tricing pendants and gripes and lifting the winch brake lets the weight of the boat and davit arms roll the davit down inclined trackways, or pivot it, carrying the boat outboard and lowering it clear. Sub-types are roller-track (gravity-roller) and pivoting (luffing). Standard for merchant-ship lifeboats because they need no external power and can be worked with the ship blacked out or listing, which is why the regulations favour them.

Davit inspection points are common to all three: freedom of movement, condition of trackways, rollers and pivot pins, lubrication, condition of limit switches and stoppers, and that the davit is not seized by paint or corrosion.

Davit-launched liferaft against throw-overboard liferaft

The criterion is whether the raft is boarded before it enters the water.

Davit-launched — boarded on deck, so it needs a launching appliance with an automatic disengaging apparatus, and it must be stowed within reach of its lifting hook unless a means of transfer is provided that is not defeated by the trim and list limits, by vessel motion, or by power failure 46 CFR §199.130. Its permanently attached sea anchor must deploy automatically when the raft floats free.
Throw-overboard — goes into the water first, and is the one craft excused from the 2-metre minimum stowage height above the waterline.

A blackout has taken the ship's power and she is listing 14 degrees to starboard. Which davit family is the regulations' preferred arrangement, and what actually starts the boat moving?

Gravity davits. Once the tricing pendants and gripes are off and the winch brake is lifted, the weight of the boat and the davit arms drives the boat outboard and down the trackway. No external power is involved, which is why §199.150(d) permits nothing but gravity or stored mechanical power independent of the vessel's supplies.

Working a question

You are AB on a vessel whose inflatable liferafts sit in cradles on a boat deck measured at 5.2 metres above the light waterline. The rafts are to be boarded at deck level and lowered. Establish what the arrangement must include.

Identify the craft. Inflatable liferafts, so the embarkation arrangements in §180.150 are in play, not the lifeboat sections.
Apply the height trigger. 5.2 metres is more than 4.5 metres, so a launching appliance or an approved marine evacuation system is required. Stop reading the option that says the rafts may be handled from the cradles unaided.
Apply the boarding trigger anyway. The rafts are boarded before being placed in the water, so the appliance would be required even if the deck were low. Two independent triggers, either sufficient.
Specify the appliance. Automatic disengaging apparatus under subpart 160.170, plus a davit approved under 160.132 for use with a liferaft and a winch approved under 160.115 for use with a liferaft. An appliance approved on or before November 10, 2011 under series 160.163 also satisfies it.
Check the ladder separately. Deck to lightest operating waterline is 5.2 metres, more than 3,050 millimetres, so an approved embarkation ladder is required at the station.
Check stowage against §199.130. Each raft within reach of its lifting hook or provided a transfer means unaffected by trim, list, vessel motion or power failure; manual release from its securing arrangements; painter system to the vessel; float-free arrangement with a 160.162 hydrostatic release unit.
Check the clock. Two crew must be able to complete preparations for embarkation and launching in less than 5 minutes.

Work these in metres. §180.150 renders 4.5 metres as 15 feet and §199.150 renders the same 4.5 metres as 14.75 feet, and a candidate converting between the two figures under time pressure will talk themselves out of a correct answer.

Where candidates lose the point

Answering "5 minutes" to a launching-time question. The 5-minute figure is preparation by two crew members from the stowed condition, and it attracts because it is the smallest number and the one most drilled aboard. Launching all required craft with their full complement is 10 minutes under §199.280(d) or 30 minutes under §199.245(b).

Reading the 4.5-metre exception as height only. §199.150(b)(1) exempts a craft boardable from less than 4.5 metres and stowed for launching directly from the stowed position under 10 degrees trim and 20 degrees list. A raft on a low deck that cannot launch from where it sits is not exempt.

Treating "no lifting to launch" as absolute. Two exceptions exist and both are narrow: a davit-launched liferaft lifted to its embarkation position by a manually powered winch, and a craft of 185 kilograms or less lifted not more than 300 millimetres.

Applying the 2-metre minimum stowage height to every raft. Liferafts intended for throw-overboard launching are excepted by name in §199.130(a)(4). Candidates also pair that minimum with the 18-metre maximum and answer with the wrong one.

Choosing the radial davit when the stem of the question is loss of power. Radial davits are swung out by hand, which reads like independence from the ship's systems, but the family the regulations favour for survival craft is the gravity davit, because the launch itself is driven by the weight of boat and arms.

Giving the lifeboatman sea service as a single figure. 6 months is only sufficient with successful completion of an approved course; without the course the requirement is 12 months on ocean, coastwise, inland and Great Lakes routes.

Assuming the davit span and its lifelines are fitted to every lifeboat. §199.155(d) exempts the totally enclosed lifeboat.

Check yourself

Your ship is a cargo vessel. The abandon-ship signal has just been given. Within what time must all survival craft required for the total number of persons on board be capable of being launched with their full complement and equipment?

10 minutes, under §199.280(d) — the section that also carries the cargo-vessel launching requirements at 20,000 gross tons. The 30-minute figure in §199.245(b) is the other section's standard, and it is the distractor written for this question.

An examiner asks what the launching appliance for your lifeboat is permitted to draw on in order to launch the boat. What is your answer?

Gravity, or stored mechanical power that is independent of the vessel's power supplies — and it must work on that basis both in the fully loaded and equipped condition and in the light condition (§199.150(d)). Any option involving the vessel's power supplies for the launch is wrong.

You are stowing a lifeboat after a drill and the boat is being lowered on falls. Which of the appliance's observation requirements applies, and where must the operator be?

Recovery is governed by §199.155(b): the arrangement must let the operator on the vessel observe the lifeboat at all times during recovery. The launching-side requirement in §199.150(g) specifies the operator on the deck observing the craft at all times during launching. Read the stem for launch or recovery before choosing.

Your vessel is a passenger vessel of 95 metres in length carrying lifeboats lowered down the side. What is the stowage requirement relative to the propeller?

The after end of the lifeboat must be at least 1.5 times the length of the lifeboat forward of the propeller (§199.230(a)). The general requirement in §199.130(b)(1) — as far forward of the propeller as practicable — still applies, but the numeric standard is the one that answers the question at 80 metres and upwards.

A rigid liferaft on a short international voyage: how many sea anchors, and what is each one for?

Two. One is permanently attached so the waterborne raft lies oriented to the wind in the most stable manner; the second is stowed in the raft as a spare (§199.175(b)(27)(ii)). On a davit-launched raft and on a raft on a passenger vessel, the permanently attached anchor must deploy automatically when the raft floats free.

The liferaft container in front of you carries no marked maximum stowage height. How high above the waterline may it be stowed?

Not more than 18 metres (59 feet) above the waterline with the vessel in its lightest seagoing condition (§199.130(c)(2)). Where a maximum stowage height is marked on the container, that marked figure governs instead.

You have 11 months of deck sea service on coastwise and Great Lakes routes and no approved course. Do you qualify for a lifeboatman endorsement?

No. Without an approved course the requirement is 12 months of sea service on ocean, coastwise, inland and Great Lakes routes. The 6-month path requires successful completion of an approved course (§12.407(b)(2)).

Two hatchets are carried in your lifeboat. Where do they go, and what disqualifies a hatchet outright?

Stowed in brackets near the release mechanism, and where more than one is carried, at opposite ends of the boat. A hatchet requiring assembly or unfolding is not acceptable, and it must be at least 14 inches long with a cutting edge of approximately 3 inches and a 3-foot lanyard (§199.175(b)(13)).