Ultimate Guide of Enclosed Lifeboat Launching Procedure

The totally enclosed lifeboat has been constructed of such form and properties that it has ample stability in a sea way and sufficient freeboard when loaded with its full complement of persons and equipment. Even in the event of the boat being flooded and then capsizing, it will automatically self right and will provide not only an above-water escape for its occupants, but also ensure that all occupants have their heads above water. As China famous fully enclosed lifeboat manufacturer, we introduce the enclosed lifeboat launching procedure in this article.

 

Release totally enclosed lifeboat

1. Normal ( offload ) hook release (by helmsman).

① Ensure the enclosed boat is waterborne.

② Check pulls rod C. If not then return onboard for repair (in a real emergency, see emergency release notice).

③ Remove lock pin A by pulling up.

④ Pull release handle, two hooks was the simultaneous release Ensure that the launching area is clear.

 

Important notice: 

Danger!!! The following actions will drop the boat.

 

2. Emergency (on load) release (by helmsman)

If the totally enclosed lifeboat cannot reach the water, make the decision for this release:

① Ensure the boat is waterborne. If not, this process will release from any height and may cause injury or death.

② Make an emergent release decision.

③ Remove lock pin by pulling up.

④ Ensure that the launching area is clear

⑤ Pull release handle over the center and down to horizontal to effect boat.

 

3. Painter release

Resetting the hooks

Preparations: 

After the fully enclosed lifeboat has been launched and as soon as clear from the ship, the hooks should be re-set ready for lifting upon return. Do not leave this until later, there will be not be the time necessary to carefully check and double check.

 

① Inspect the tail of each hook for damage or wear, check that they rotate easily and smoothly.  (If problems are found, inform ship that it may not be safe to lift the boat, rectify the problem immediately).

 

② Hook man return hooks to their working position and hold them there. Check that hook is in the correct position to be locked by ensuring that the locking mark on the each hook is correctly aligned with its corresponding mark on the side plate. When satisfied the hook man calls out to the helmsman “ready to lock forward (AFT) hook.

 

③ When the helmsman has received confirmation that both hooks are ‘ready to lock’, he presses in button and at the same time returns the release handle to its working position.

 

④ Hook man at the hooks check the cam pin position indicator on the scale plate on the side of each hook, when in the correct locked position the pointer should be in the safe zone. They report to the helmsman “AFT (forward) hook locked”.

 

⑤ The helmsman then unhook the pull rod on the central release mechanism.

 

Recovery of the totally enclosed lifeboat

All crew should be familiar with the "Operations Manual" for the davit. Note that only a limited number of persons may be in the boat during recovery, and a minimum of 3 persons is necessary to handle it. If the lifeboat is also the ship’s designated rescue boat the maximum of number of persons will normally be 6.

 

1. Recovering the boat - in fair conditions

① Return to parent ship

Once excess persons have been disembarked and the skates have been re-fitted (if it was necessary to remove them), the boat proceeds to return to beneath its falls. The boat’s painter should have been left hanging vertically down the side of the ship, and the first step is to approach and retrieve it.

 

Wind/tide/current conditions will determine the best approach angle and direction. But once the eye of the painter is re-attached to it’s own release hook on the bow, it will assist in positioning the boat at or near it’s falls. Running the boat astern drawing the painter out towards the ships stern will result in the bow being drawn in alongside the ship. 

 

With engine and rudder movements, the stern can be controlled in most conditions, but it may be sometimes necessary to run a second line down from the ship to the stern of the boat to assist. 

 

Note that, the falls will be plumbing some distance away from the ship’s side, and crew with boathooks may be needed to keep the boat away from the side.

 

A safety aid is to have a tail rope attached to the falls above the connection link or ring. This lets the crewmen gain control of the boats position while the blocks are well above the enclosed lifeboat.

 

② Connecting Fall Rings/Links

The boat is brought under the falls taking care that the blocks/rings/links do not make heavy contact with the boat.  The rings/links are attached to the hooks and checked to confirm that the lousing plate now prevents them from dislodging again.

 

③ Hoisting

 The helmsman gives the order to the winch controller on deck to begin to lift the boat just clear of the water and then stop.

 

During this initial lift, the two crewman should watch their hooks carefully, checking for any sign of movement as the weight is taken.  The checks of both the hook position and the cam position should be made continuously, any problem being reported to the helmsman immediately.

 

As soon as the boat is clear of the water and hoisting is stopped, the hook release interlock must be checked to confirm that it has re-engaged itself automatically. If not, put the boat back in the water immediately.

 

When everything is found to be in good order, crewmen should then be seated with their seat belts fastened and with lifejackets on before the order to continue hoisting is given. The engine should now be stopped.

 

The fully enclosed lifeboat should be recovered to its stowage position and the crew disembark. On some ships, the master may require all crew to leave the boat once the hooks have been checked with the boat clear of the water.

 

2. Recovering the boat in bad weather

It may be necessary to recover the boat in conditions very different to the fair weather conditions upon which the foregoing has been based. The following risks and dangers require consideration and thought for the safety of persons in the boat and for the boat itself.

 

Attempting to attach the heavy links of falls to a boat’s hooks when it is pitching heavily is virtually impossible to do safely, accidents happen all too easily in such conditions resulting in crushed hands or skull fractures, plus a boat out of control.

 

Even if the links could be successfully attached, as the winch takes the strain, the pitching of the boat will impose shock loads into the lifting gear, loads which for safety should be avoided.

 

① Bad weather recovery using the foul weather strop

Since July 1998, recovery of all rescue boats (not equivalent to other boats) in bad weather is necessary and mandatory. In this case, the low-risk recovery method is to replace the steel strop with a highly elastic strop. The lightweight and fully elastic strop can absorb and relieve the impact.

 

② Foul-weather strops consist of a pair of webbing slings of appropriate size/strength and of length less than the hanging-off pendants. These are attached by shackles to one point of a “monkey face plate” (or triangle plate) on each of the falls. The other ends have a soft eye (no shackle) which hangs lower than the normally used link of the falls. This soft eye attaches direct to the boat’s release hooks, not to the auxiliary lifting points.

 

Taking the same hoisting precautions above, the boat is lifted clear of the water. Followed by hoisting until the fall blocks are near the davit head, and the previously rigged “hanging off” pendants are within reach of the auxiliary lifting point on each of the boat’s two hook assemblies.

 

③ Once the “hanging-off” pendants are attached, the boat can be gently lowered and the weight transferred onto them thus by passing both the falls and the hooks themselves. The webbing slings are then detached manually, the falls lowered and the fall links connected into the hooks in the normal way.

 

As the weight is transferred back to the falls, all the checks of hooks and their position indicators must again be made.

 

④ The boat can then be hoisted into it’s davits and stowed and secured properly, ready for emergency use. The “hanging-off” pendants must be removed and stowed away from the boat.

 

Lifting by slings for transportation

Before lifting, it should be ensured that:

• The hooks are properly locked.

• Hook Release Handle is in position for ‘hooks locked’ and secured there by safety pin.

• Caution: People should not stay onboard the lifeboat except in exceptional circumstances.

• Only the lifting hooks are to be used to lift the boat, both hooks must be used. Do not use the hanging-off pendant lugs.

• Towing hooks, sprinkler pipes, etc. must not be used for anything but the purpose for which they were constructed.

 

When lifting the lifeboat without using the davits and parallel falls, please note the following:

 

Long slings must be used so that the angle between each leg of the sling and vertical is less than 15 degrees. If the inclusive angle exceeds 30 degrees, the hooks will be overloaded and both hooks and perhaps the boat itself may be damaged.