Carriage of Inflatable Liferafts On-Board Small Fishing Vessels of Less Than 15 Metres in Length Overall (Loa)

   

Marine Notice No. 33 of 2016

 

To all Fishing Vessel Owners, Agents, Skippers, Fishing Vessel Crew Members, Fishers, Code of Practice Surveyors, Liferaft Servicing Stations and Chandlers

 

This Marine Notice sets out the carriage and type requirements for inflatable liferafts carried on board fishing vessels of less than 15 metres in length overall as referred to in Chapter 7, Paragraph 4 of the Code of Practice for the Design, Construction, Equipment and Operation of Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15 m Length overall.

 

Marine Notice No. 08 of 2005, Marine Notice No. 16 of 2011 and Marine Notice No. 20 of 2015 ARE ALL WITHDRAWN.

 

The minimum carriage requirement and type of liferaft required is as specified in the tables below:

 

TABLE 1.   

 

Liferaft Carriage Requirements for Fishing Vessels of Loa 12m or more, but less than  Loa 15m’:

 

Plying Limits	Carriage requirement and type required. (See Note 1)	Crew Number
For All Plying Limits	One or more SOLAS/MED approved liferaft(s) with sufficient capacity to accommodate all onboard the fishing vessel.	Any number

 

Note 1:  Compliance with the requirements in Table 1 will also satisfy the statutory obligations which apply to fishing vessels of Loa 40 feet or more but less than Loa 15m.

 

Liferafts referred to in Table 1 must be fitted with a Hydrostatic Release Unit and be stowed in a position which is the most practical for quick and easy launching on either side of the vessel.  Liferafts must be serviced at an approved liferaft servicing station at intervals not exceeding 12 months.

 

TABLE 2.  Liferaft Carriage Requirements for Fishing Vessels of Loa less than 12m:

Plying Limits	Carriage requirement when carrying more than 4 persons	Carriage requirement carrying  4 persons or less
5 miles or more from safe haven	SOLAS/MED approved with capacity for all onboard	Non-SOLAS/non-MED (see Notes 2 and 3) Or SOLAS/MED approved
Less than 5 miles from safe haven	SOLAS/MED approved with capacity for all onboard	Liferaft recommended (See Note 4)

 

 

Note 2: The Department recognises that the smallest available approved SOLAS/MED inflatable liferafts are for six persons.  To ensure an adequate standard of safety, for fishing vessels carrying 4 persons or less and which are operating 5 miles or more from a safe haven, non-SOLAS/non-MED inflatable liferafts of the types listed in Note 3 below are accepted for compliance with the Code of Practice.  Such liferafts must be fitted with a Hydrostatic Release Unit and be stowed in a position which is the most practical for quick and easy launching on either side of the vessel.

Such liferafts must be serviced at an approved liferaft servicing station at intervals not exceeding 12 months.

 

Note 3:  List of Accepted non-SOLAS/non-MED inflatable liferafts:

·         DSB 4 - Person Inflatable Liferaft with “SOLAS B Pack”

·         RFD Surviva 4 - Person Inflatable Liferaft with “SOLAS B Pack”

·         RFD SEASAVA PRO ISO 9650 4 - Person Inflatable Liferaft with “SOLAS B Pack”

·         Viking DK 4 - Person Inflatable Liferaft with “SOLAS B Pack”

·         Zodiac 4 - Person Inflatable Liferaft with “SOLAS B Pack”

·         EUROVINIL ISO/DIS 9650 4 - Person Inflatable Liferaft with “SOLAS B Pack”

·         Sea-Safe 4 person inflatable liferaft :ISO 9650.1 group A Type 1 with “SOLAS B pack”

·         Seago - ISO 9650-1 SOLAS B pack – 4 PERSON Liferaft

·         Haining, Liferaft model  HNF-YT IS09650-1 – with SOLAS B pack

Note 4:  Liferafts Carried Onboard Fishing Vessels where a Liferaft is not Required for Compliance with the Code of Practice.

Fishing vessels operating less than 5 miles from a safe haven and with 4 persons or less onboard, are not required to carry a liferaft for compliance with the Code of Practice.

The Department strongly recommends that a liferaft is voluntarily carried onboard such vessels.  It is also recommended that such voluntarily carried liferafts are of either the SOLAS/MED type or one of the non-SOLAS/non-MED types specified in Note 3 above and that these are serviced at an approved liferaft servicing station at intervals not exceeding 12 months.

 

Irish Maritime Administration,

Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport,

Leeson Lane, Dublin 2, DO2 TR60, Ireland.

12/08/2016