LIFERAFT SERVICE MAINTENANCE, SUPPLY, RENTALS

LIFERAFT SERVICE MAINTENANCE, SUPPLY, RENTALS

Life rafts are an important safety requirement on ships. In their absence, marine fatalities could occur which otherwise could have been prevented. Ships, large boats, and other marine vessels incorporate the usage of life rafts, making them indispensable in the nature of marine vessel operations.
 life rafts require periodic servicing and maintenance. The reasons for life raft repairing and their maintenance can be enumerated as follows:

• Constant usage during drills or previous emergencies can render the life raft weather worn which could cause problems at the time of emergencies.
• The inflation system of the raft could have problems and the lack of the same could pose problems during exigency situations.
• There are a few necessary instrumentations that are stored in the life rafts for using as and when the situation arises. The lack of workability of these equipments necessitates life raft servicing.

Liferaft servicing involves the following servicing aspects:

• Thorough inspection of the external case of the life raft is carried out followed an equally thorough inspection of the raft
• The inflation of the raft with respect to pressure, its maximum inflation capacity, the toughness of the raft material and the stitches is thoroughly monitored and recorded
• Instrumentations and gadgets stored in the raft are monitored for their date of expiry. A very important gadget necessitating a careful and meticulous monitoring is the cylinders used for the purpose of the raft-inflating gas.
• Following the completion of the monitoring, the technicians have to follow the standard protocol while re-folding the life rafts. The prescribed protocols differ as per the requirements of the makers of the rafts and a strict adhering to the re-folding aspect needs to be maintained.
• Rafts as per USCG and SOLAS standards mandatorily require a ten-yearly servicing inspection a few specific areas that raft owners need to comply with. In addition to these servicing requirements, the owners of USCG and SOLAS standard rafts also need to carry out a five-yearly servicing inspection for the overall system of gas inflation of the rafts.
• Following the completion of the life raft repair services, the required certifications are issued to the owners while records of the monitoring carried are meticulously maintained. These processes ensure a complete transparency in the procedure, which helps to avoid complications.

Life Raft Repair Services and Maintenance - LIFERAFTS ASIA