Elektrans Global

Life boats are for saving not losing lives!

Lifeboats are designed to save lives, but over the years too many seafarers have lost their lives or been seriously injured during routine safety exercises in davit-suspended boats fitted with on-load release hooks. The ship that cannot sink is yet to be constructed, so vessels need to be fitted with life-saving appliances, for the safety of crew and passengers. In the early days of sailing vessels, such means would be the work boats of the ship or any floating object to hang on to. The risks a seaman faced were well known and in coastal communities it was not an unexpected fate to end one’s life at sea.

Passenger ships represented a particular challenge. The terrible I & B accident in 1912 is the one we remember, but it was not at all the first major one. In the 19th century emigrants on transatlantic passages lost their lives in the thousands. But the loss of over 1,500 lives out of 3500 on board the huge, modern and luxurious vessel “that could not sink” and the shock to realize that the vessel only had lifeboat capacity for half the people on board, put the safety of passengers  and crew on the agenda.

The Convention on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) was adopted in 1914 as the first international regulations on the subject and regulated that there should be means of rescue for everyone on board. Due to the First World War, however, it took some time for these first international regulations to take effect. Further SOLAS revisions of 1929, 1948, 1960 and 1974 plus amendments thereafter have strengthened the regulations for life-saving means, requiring both lifeboats and life rafts on board.

For the safety of lives, the regulators have always considered the lifeboats to be the most important and the life rafts more as a supplement. Among seamen, however, for many years there has been a lack of confidence in lifeboats, which have been seen as rather difficult and dangerous to launch.

Actually, lifeboats did not evolve very fast from the types on board the TITANIC and for a long time remained as open, wooden boats suspended from davits. Glass fiber-reinforced polyester took over as a building material and one out of two boats also got an engine. It was not seen as necessary to have an expensive motor in both the port and starboard boat, as one could tow the other. Covered lifeboats were first required by the SOLAS amendments of 1983 and became mandatory for ships built after 1st July 1986. From then on, shipwrecked seamen leaving a tanker on fire and those to face the North Atlantic in winter or dehydration under a tropical sun stood a better chance to survive. As the vessels grew larger, so did the lifeboats and the distance from the boat deck to the sea level.

Easy to operate gravity davits had long been introduced, but one problem remained from the old days: the difficulty of releasing the lifeboat hooks in a sea swell, and preferably both hooks at the same time. Many seamen have suffered bruises to the head, and broken fingers were not uncommon, in a fight with the heavy blocks. Some release systems were therefore introduced by manufacturers, making it possible to let go of both davit falls simultaneously, by a wire or rod pull from one location of the boat. That made the seaman’s life easier during lifeboat exercises, but in heavy seas the release of both hooks at the same time was still very difficult.

No one knows how many lifeboats have accidentally fallen down, how many lives have been lost and how many people have been injured as a result. This is because many ships may not report all incidents. National authorities of traditional seafaring nations may require their ships to report accidents, but when viewing their annual reports, it is not always clear what happened in a lifeboat accident and whether on-load release gear was involved. In addition to accidents with lifeboats on board ships, it should not be forgotten that there have also been several accidents on board oil rigs, but there are no reliable figures available for them either.

Serious personal injury or death of a seaman will normally end up in the records of a P&I Club. However, even P&I Clubs are not able to provide exact figures, because the Clubs have different systems to register such accidents (for instance, they may be registered under “Lifeboat”, ”Lifesaving appliances”, “Injury”, “Death”, “Fall”, etc.) and Clubs do not report these accidents to any central agency for a total count.

The accidental release of a lifeboat usually happens during exercise or when maintenance work is being carried out. In most cases one hook releases first and the boat may swing like a pendulum. The second hook may release or be torn out of the deck. If there are people on board they will sometimes escape unharmed by just falling into the sea and then being rescued. Although very close to a fatal accident, such near-misses may not be reported at all. It is perhaps natural to try to avoid negative publicity in such cases.

In accordance with SOLAS & LSA Code, every crew member shall participate in at least one abandon ship drill and one fire drill every month. During the abandon ship drill, at least one lifeboat is lowered upto the embarkation deck.

Whilst lowering the life-boat upto the embarkation deck, risk assessment, weather conditions, safety precautions, supervision, due care and diligence should be exercised to prevent any untoward accident/incident occurring.

Further, lifeboats and rescue boat are required to be launched with their assigned crew aboard and maneuvered in the water at least once every three months. On account of the dangers involved, this should only be practiced in sheltered waters under the supervision of an experienced officer.

A more recent development on cargo ships is a free fall lifeboat, in lieu of davit launched lifeboats. On account of the dangers involved in launching such boats, its simulated launching is acceptable.

Lifeboats and rescue boats have been provided to save lives, but if the same lifesaving appliance is going to result in an accident during maintenance and drills, then this is not acceptable. Hence, greater care needs to be taken to prevent such accidents whilst undertaking maintenance and practicing drills.