13. Life Saving and Emergency Equipment

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13.1.1 Every ship should carry survival craft which may include either emergency boats, liferafts, inflatable or rigid, or a combination thereof.

13.1.2 Survival craft should be provided in such numbers and capacity to accommodate at least the total number of persons on board. In addition, in the event of any one liferaft being lost or rendered unserviceable, there should be sufficient survival crafts to accommodate the total number of persons on board.

13.1.3 The means of securing survival craft should be of sufficient strength to withstand acceleration forces of up to 2 g in any direction with the ship heeling up to 60 degrees.

13.1.4 Survival craft should be capable of rapid release from their stowages without the need for special tools; where necessary, means of operating release mechanisms should be clearly described at the stowage. These instructions should be in pictographic form.

13.1.5 Each survival craft should be equipped with a painter of adequate strength and length to hold the craft secured alongside with the ship heeled up to 60 degrees. This painter should be secured to the ship at all times.

13.1.6 Inflatable liferafts should be carried in approved containers, and should be equipped with hydrostatic release units and stowed in such a manner as to allow the container to float free without hindrance from vessel’s structure, rigging or other items of equipment.

13.1.7 Boats should be stowed completely equipped, rudder and tiller shipped, and with oars, rowlocks or loose equipment securely stowed. Where so equipped, boat engines, fuel tanks and batteries should be maintained in the boat ready for use in case of emergency.

13.1.8 All boats should be marked permanently with the ship's name and port of registry with characters not less than 75 mm high, in a colour contrasting to the background.

13.1.9 Spare fuel tanks for survival craft engines should be securely stowed in a clearly identified stowage on the weather deck; if the stowage is enclosed, it should be provided with a vent whose discharge is remote from any normal working station and which is fitted with a protective flash screen. All boats should have affixed retro-reflective tape in accordance with requirements of the Canadian General Standards Board.

13.1.10 The spare fuel tank stowage should be provided with means of containing any fuel leakage.

13.2 Lifejackets

13.2.1 Every ship should carry Transport Canada approved lifejackets sufficient for 125% of the persons on board.

13.2.2 Lifejackets should be securely stowed in readily accessible and clearly identified stowages. Lifejackets should be marked with the ship’s name and port of registry.

13.2.3 Lifejacket stowages should afford maximum protection against mechanical damage and atmospheric deterioration of the lifejackets, and should be remote from any potentially hazardous location.

13.3 Other Life Saving Equipment

13.3.1 Every ship should carry a minimum of 3 Transport Canada approved lifebuoys.

13.3.2 At least one lifebuoy on each side is to be equipped with:

1. a whistle;
2. a self-igniting light and self-activating smoke signal; or
3. a self-igniting light that is visible by day or night;

and at least one other lifebuoy on each side is to be equipped with a buoyant line of not less than 30 m in length.

13.3.3 All lifebuoys should be arranged so that they may be released clear of the side of the ship by a quick-release device and should be located in readily accessible stowages close to the side of the ship, spaced approximately equidistantly along the length of the weather deck in the normal working area.

13.3.4 Every ship should carry a man overboard ( MOB ) pole.

13.3.5 Every ship should carry an efficient fixed or portable searchlight suitable for use in MOB search and recovery operations.

13.3.6 Every ship should carry a boarding ladder, scrambling net to at least 600 mm below the waterline or some other means of permitting the retrieval of persons from the water and a life sling rigged to pick up from the water a body of at least 100 kg .

13.3.7 Every ship should carry a minimum of 6 distress flares of type A or type B or type C and a minimum of 6 distress signals of either type A, B or C or type D, carried in a weathertight buoyant stowage on the weather deck.

13.4 Emergency Equipment

13.4.1 Every ship should carry at least one approved first-aid kit.

13.4.2 Every ship should be fitted with an eye wash station conveniently located adjacent to the battery maintenance area.

13.4.3 Every ship should carry a sail repair kit containing sail material, thread, sailmaker's palms, needles, cringles, fids and marline spikes as appropriate to the sails carried.

13.4.4 Every ship should carry such tools and material relevant to the material of hull construction which may be required to cover or patch damage or leaks.

13.4.5 Every ship should carry means of effecting repairs to the steering system, including an emergency tiller or equivalent.

13.4.6 Every ship should carry wire cutting equipment for use in the event of dismasting.

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