Regulation 6 - Availability and stowage of survival craft and rescue boats
Clasification Society 2024 - Version 9.40
Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - International Conventions - SFV - International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels (The Torremolinos Convention)Regulations for the Construction and Equipment of Fishing Vessels - Chapter VII - Life-Saving Appliances and Arrangements - Part B - Vessel Requirements - Regulation 6 - Availability and stowage of survival craft and rescue boats

Regulation 6 - Availability and stowage of survival craft and rescue boats

  (1) Survival craft shall:

  • (a)

    • (i) be readily available in case of emergency;

    • (ii) be capable of being launched safely and rapidly under the conditions required by regulation 32(1)(a); and

    • (iii) be capable of rapid recovery if fulfilling also the requirements for a rescue boat;

  • (b) be so stowed that;

    • (i) the marshalling of persons at the embarkation deck is not impeded;

    • (ii) their prompt handling is not impeded;

    • (iii) embarkation can be effected rapidly and in good order; and

    • (iv) the operation of any other survival craft is not interfered with.

  (2) Where the distance from the embarkation deck to the waterline of the vessel in the lightest operating condition exceeds 4.5 m, survival craft, except float-free liferafts, shall be capable of being davit-launched with a full complement of persons or be provided with equivalent approved means of embarkation.

  (3) Survival craft and launching appliances shall be in working order and available for immediate use before the vessel leaves port and kept so at all times when at sea.

  (4)

  • (a) Survival craft shall be stowed to the satisfaction of the Administration.

  • (b) Every lifeboat shall be attached to a separate set of davits or approved launching appliance.

  • (c) Survival craft shall be positioned as close to accommodation and service spaces as possible, stowed in suitable positions to ensure safe launching, with particular regard to clearance from the propeller. Lifeboats for lowering down the vessel's side shall be stowed with regard to steeply overhanging portions of the hull, so ensuring, as far as practicable, that they can be launched down the straight side of the vessel. If positioned forward, they shall be stowed abaft the collision bulkhead in a sheltered position and in this respect the Administration shall give special consideration to the strength of the davits.

  • (d) The method of launching and recovering of rescue boats shall be approved taking into account the weight of the rescue boat including its equipment and 50% of the number of persons it is certificated to carry in regulations 23(1)(b)(ii) and 23(1)(c), the construction and size of the rescue boat and its position of stowage above the waterline in the vessel's lightest operating condition. However, every rescue boat stowed at a height of more than 4.5 m above the waterline in the vessel's lightest operating condition shall be provided with approved arrangements for launching and recovery.

  • (e) Launching and embarkation appliances shall comply with the requirements of regulation 32.

  • (f)

    • (i) The liferafts shall be so stowed as to be readily available in case of emergency in such a manner as to permit them to float free from their stowage, inflate and break free from the vessel in the event of its sinking. However, davit-launched liferafts need not float free;

    • (ii) lashings, if used, shall be fitted with an automatic (hydrostatic) release system of an approved type.

  • (g) The Administration, if it is satisfied that the constructional features of the vessel and the method of fishing operation may render it unreasonable and impractical to apply particular provisions of this paragraph, may accept relaxations from such provisions, provided that the vessel is fitted with alternative launching and recovering arrangements adequate for the service for which it is intended. The Administration which has allowed alternative launching and recovering arrangements under this subparagraph shall inform the Organization of the particulars of such arrangements for circulation to other Parties.

Parent topic: Part B - Vessel Requirements
Copyright 2022 Clasifications Register Group Limited, International Maritime Organization, International Labour Organization or Maritime and Coastguard Agency. All rights reserved. Clasifications Register Group Limited, its affiliates and subsidiaries and their respective officers, employees or agents are, individually and collectively, referred to in this clause as 'Clasifications Register'. Clasifications Register assumes no responsibility and shall not be liable to any person for any loss, damage or expense caused by reliance on the information or advice in this document or howsoever provided, unless that person has signed a contract with the relevant Clasifications Register entity for the provision of this information or advice and in that case any responsibility or liability is exclusively on the terms and conditions set out in that contract.