Abandon ship: inflatable liferafts, launching, and drills

What the rule requires

Float-free, in the order it happens

An inflatable liferaft rigged for float-free launching sits in a glass-reinforced-plastic canister on a cradle fitted with a hydrostatic release unit. If the vessel goes down before anyone launches it by hand, the sequence is fixed: water pressure at a set depth trips the HRU, the raft floats free, it inflates as the painter comes taut, and the weak link parts so the raft separates from the sinking vessel NAVEDTRA 14343 §5-5.

Each liferaft or group of liferafts must be arranged for float-free launching, and the arrangement must ensure the raft, once released and inflated, is not dragged under by the sinking vessel. Each liferaft must have a painter system providing a connection between the vessel and the raft, and a hydrostatic release unit used in a float-free arrangement must be approved under approval series 160.162 46 CFR §199.130.

Uninspected fishing industry vessels sit under a different section. A raft required to be equipped with a SOLAS A or SOLAS B equipment pack must be stowed so as to float free and automatically inflate if the vessel sinks; every other inflatable liferaft, inflatable buoyant apparatus, or auxiliary craft used in their place must be either kept readily accessible for launching or stowed to float free. The HRU there is approved under subpart 160.062, and a float-free link used with a buoyant apparatus or life float is certified to subpart 160.073 46 CFR §28.125.

The HRU has fired and the canister is floating twenty feet from you. What inflates the raft?

The painter. The HRU releases the canister from its securing arrangement; inflation comes from the CO2, fired when the painter comes taut against the sinking hull. The weak link then parts and frees the inflated raft. Any answer naming the hydrostatic release as the inflating agent is wrong.

Launching by hand

The order of the steps is the examinable part. The crew check the painter is made fast to a strong point, throw the canister overboard, pull the painter to fire the CO2 inflation, then board from the embarkation ladder or by controlled entry . The painter is secured before the canister goes over the side; a canister thrown with a loose painter takes the raft, the CO2 and the crew's transport with it.

The trigger for a launching appliance

A launching appliance, or a marine evacuation system approved under approval series 160.175, must be provided for each inflatable liferaft and inflatable buoyant apparatus when either the embarkation station is on a deck more than 4.5 meters (15 feet) above the waterline, or the raft is boarded prior to being placed in the water. An embarkation ladder approved under §160.017 must be at each embarkation station if the distance from that deck to the vessel's lightest operating waterline is more than 3,050 millimeters (10 feet) 46 CFR §180.150.

Two independent conditions, either one sufficient. A raft boarded on deck needs an appliance whatever the freeboard.

Where a davit-launched raft is fitted, its launching appliance must include an automatic disengaging apparatus approved under subpart 160.170, and be either a 160.132 davit with a 160.115 winch, or an appliance approved on or before November 10, 2011 under approval series 160.163.

The Part 199 counterpart runs on the same idea with tighter arithmetic: survival craft boardable from a deck less than 4.5 meters (14.75 feet) above the waterline in the vessel's lightest seagoing condition, and stowed for launching directly from the stowed position under unfavorable trim of 10 degrees and list of 20 degrees either way, need no launching appliance. Every appliance that is fitted must launch the fully equipped craft safely against trim of up to 10 degrees and list of up to 20 degrees either way, both with the full complement aboard and with no more than the operating crew aboard, and must not depend on anything other than gravity or stored mechanical power independent of the vessel's power supplies. The operator on deck must be able to observe the craft at all times during launching 46 CFR §199.150.

Stowage

Each liferaft must be stowed to permit manual release from its securing arrangements, and arranged so it can drop into the water from the deck it is stowed on. That is satisfied if the raft is outboard of the rail or bulwark, on stanchions or a platform adjacent to the rail or bulwark, or served by a gate or opening large enough to push it directly overboard, with such an opening on each side if the raft is intended for use on either side .

Height: not above the maximum stowage height marked on the container with the vessel in its lightest seagoing condition, and where no maximum is marked, not more than 18 meters (59 feet). Survival craft generally must be stowed not less than 2 meters above the waterline under the loaded, trimmed and 20-degree-listed conditions, but liferafts intended for throw-overboard launching are excepted from that floor by name.

Readiness: stowed so that two crew members can complete preparations for embarkation and launching in less than 5 minutes, and so as not to require lifting from the stowed position to launch. Two exceptions to the lifting bar — a davit-launched raft may be lifted by a manually powered winch to its embarkation position, and a craft weighing 185 kilograms (407.8 pounds) or less may be lifted not more than 300 millimeters (1 foot).

Drills, training and the log entry

On a small passenger vessel the master shall conduct sufficient drills and give sufficient instruction to make sure all crew members are familiar with their duties in emergencies requiring abandoning ship or recovering a person from the water. Each abandon ship drill must include summoning the crew to assigned stations, summoning passengers on an overnight voyage to muster or embarkation stations and making them aware of how the order to abandon ship will be given, checking that life jackets are correctly donned, operation of any davits used for launching liferafts, and instruction on the automatic and manual deployment of survival craft. Drills are conducted as if there were an actual emergency, and are logged with the date and a general description of the drill scenario and training topics 46 CFR §185.520.

Onboard training in the use of davit-launched liferafts on such a vessel takes place at intervals of not more than 3 months. A required rescue boat is launched with its assigned crew aboard and maneuvered in the water once each month if reasonable and practicable, but at least once within a 3-month period before the vessel gets underway with passengers.

Under Part 199 every crewmember participates in at least one abandon-ship drill and one fire drill every month, and the crew's drills must take place within 24 hours of leaving port if more than 25 percent of the crew have not drilled aboard that vessel in the previous month. Abandon-ship drills there include the general alarm and drill announcement, reporting to stations, checking that lifejackets or immersion suits are correctly donned, lowering at least one lifeboat, starting and operating the lifeboat engine, and operating the davits used for launching the liferafts. Emergency lighting for mustering and abandonment is tested at each abandon-ship drill; immersion or anti-exposure suits are worn in at least one abandon-ship drill in any 3-month period; davit-launched liferaft training runs at intervals of not more than 4 months; and a line-throwing appliance drill is held at least once every 3 months, with actual firing at the master's discretion 46 CFR §199.180.

Telling it apart

Three launching modes — the criterion is where the raft is when people get into it

Throw-overboard. Raft goes in the water first, then is boarded from the embarkation ladder or by controlled entry NAVEDTRA 14343 §5-5. This is the class excepted from the 2-meter minimum stowage height 46 CFR §199.130.
Davit-launched. Boarded on deck before it is in the water, which is the second trigger for a launching appliance 46 CFR §180.150. It must be arranged to be rapidly boarded by its full complement 46 CFR §199.245, boarded and launched from a position immediately adjacent to the stowed position or from the position it is transferred to, and stowed within reach of its lifting hook unless a means of transfer is provided that is not disabled by trim and list, vessel motion, or power failure.
Float-free. Nobody boards from the vessel. HRU-released, self-inflating, weak link parting. This is the fallback for a vessel that goes down before the crew can launch.

Numbers that get swapped — the criterion is which subchapter the vessel is inspected under

Davit-launched liferaft training. Not more than 3 months on a small passenger vessel under §185.520(e); not more than 4 months under §199.180(g)(5).
Time to launch all required survival craft from the abandon-ship signal. 30 minutes under ; 10 minutes under 46 CFR §199.280, the section that also carries the requirement for cargo vessels of 20,000 gross tons or more to have lifeboats launchable at headway up to 5 knots in calm water and the damaged-condition heel requirement for tank vessels.
Hydrostatic release unit approval. Subpart 160.062 under §28.125(c); approval series 160.162 under §199.130(c)(7).

Working a question

A 48-passenger inspected small passenger vessel. Embarkation station is on the main deck, 11 feet above the lightest operating waterline. Throw-overboard canisters sit on cradles outboard of the rail. Is the arrangement compliant, and what is the launch sequence?

Fix the regime. Inspected small passenger vessel, so embarkation arrangements come from 46 CFR §180.150 and drills from 46 CFR §185.520. The 10-minute and 30-minute launch limits belong to other sections and do not apply.
Test the launching-appliance triggers. Deck is 11 feet above the waterline, not more than 15 feet. The rafts are placed in the water before boarding, so they are not boarded prior to being placed in the water. Neither trigger is met: no launching appliance and no marine evacuation system required.
Test the ladder trigger separately. 11 feet exceeds 3,050 millimeters (10 feet), so an embarkation ladder approved under §160.017 is required at the station. Passing step 2 does not carry step 3 with it.
Check the stowage. Outboard of the rail satisfies the drop-into-the-water requirement, and manual release from the securing arrangements must be possible. Two crew members must be able to complete preparations for embarkation and launching in under 5 minutes 46 CFR §199.130.
Launch. Painter made fast to a strong point, canister over the side, pull the painter to fire the CO2, board down the ladder or by controlled entry NAVEDTRA 14343 §5-5.
Drill and log. With no davits fitted, the davit-operation item and the 3-month davit training interval do not bite, but the drill must still include instruction on the automatic and manual deployment of survival craft, and the entry must show the date and a general description of the scenario and topics.

Where candidates lose the point

Cutting the painter, or swimming away from a surfaced canister. A line running from a floating canister to a sinking hull looks like the thing that will kill you, and the distractor is written to exploit that. The painter coming taut is what inflates the raft, and the weak link parts to free it; the float-free arrangement is required to ensure the raft is not dragged under.
Naming the hydrostatic release as what inflates the raft. The HRU trips on water pressure and frees the canister from its securing. The CO2 does the inflating, fired by the painter.
Using 15 feet as the ladder threshold. More than 4.5 meters (15 feet) triggers the launching appliance; more than 3,050 millimeters (10 feet) triggers the embarkation ladder. A question set at 12 feet is testing exactly this gap.
Missing the second appliance trigger. A raft boarded before it is placed in the water requires a launching appliance or marine evacuation system at any embarkation height.
Applying the 2-meter minimum stowage height to a throw-overboard raft. Liferafts intended for throw-overboard launching are excepted from it.
Confusing 5 minutes with 10 or 30 minutes. The 5 minutes is two crew members completing preparations for embarkation and launching from the stowed condition. The 10 and 30 minutes are the whole vessel's required survival craft launched with full complement and equipment, timed from the abandon-ship signal.
Answering that every raft on a fishing vessel must float free. Float-free stowage with automatic inflation is required for rafts carrying a SOLAS A or SOLAS B equipment pack; the rest may be kept readily accessible for launching instead.
Treating the monthly rescue boat launch as absolute. Monthly applies if reasonable and practicable; the enforceable floor is at least once within the 3-month period before the vessel gets underway with passengers.

Check yourself

Your embarkation station is 12 feet above the lightest operating waterline. Rafts are thrown overboard, then boarded. What equipment does §180.150 require?

An approved embarkation ladder, because 12 feet is more than 3,050 millimeters (10 feet). No launching appliance or marine evacuation system: the deck is not more than 4.5 meters (15 feet) above the waterline, and the rafts are not boarded before being placed in the water.

The vessel is going down fast. A canister surfaces beside you with its painter still running to the hull. Your action?

Leave the painter alone. It will come taut and fire the CO2, and the weak link will part so the inflated raft is not dragged under. Cutting it leaves you with a sealed canister.

A liferaft container carries no marked maximum stowage height. How high above the water may it be stowed, and in what condition is that measured?

Not more than 18 meters (59 feet) above the waterline, with the vessel in its lightest seagoing condition. Where the container is marked, the marked height governs and cannot be exceeded.

Your small passenger vessel carries a davit-launched liferaft. How often must onboard training in its use be given, and what must the abandon ship drill include on account of the davits?

Training at intervals of not more than 3 months under §185.520(e). The drill must include operation of any davits used for launching liferafts, along with instruction on the automatic and manual deployment of survival craft. The 4-month interval belongs to §199.180 and does not apply here.

A fishing vessel carries an inflatable liferaft equipped with a SOLAS A pack. How must it be stowed, and to what approval must its hydrostatic release conform?

Stowed so as to float free and automatically inflate if the vessel sinks. The hydrostatic release unit must be approved under part 160, subpart 160.062. Rafts without a SOLAS A or B pack may instead be kept readily accessible for launching.

An inspector asks what your drill log must contain for an abandon ship drill on a small passenger vessel. Answer.

The date of the drill and training, and a general description of the drill scenario and training topics. Drills and training must be logged or otherwise documented for Coast Guard review on request. The longer logbook list — equipment used, malfunctioning equipment and corrective action, crewmembers participating, subject of instruction — is the §199.180 requirement.

A launching appliance on your vessel will only run off the ship's service generator. What is wrong with that?

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 both the fully loaded and the light condition. It must also work at trim up to 10 degrees and list up to 20 degrees either way.