Flag, class and port state control

How surveys, class approval, flag rules and port state inspections shape lifeboat work on a managed fleet.

6 lessons 1 h 30 min Advanced 3D simulator in every lesson Final quiz Course completed card

Written by Al Safwan Marine service engineers

Start course Preview lesson 1

Lesson 1 is open to everyone. An account (just your email) opens all 6 lessons and saves your progress.

What you'll learn

How the annual lifeboat examination lines up with the safety equipment survey window, and why the five-yearly work has no window at all.
How flags and class societies approve lifeboat service firms for each make and type, and how to check a firm's papers before it starts work.
Which flags approve lifeboat service firms themselves, which accept class approval, and which want a surveyor at the five-yearly test.
What port State inspectors look at around the lifeboats, what the Tokyo MOU figures show, and how to be ready.
How to line up crew checks, drills, annual and five-yearly service and falls renewal with survey windows and port calls.
What a good quote, scope and service report contain, how to check a provider's papers, and the red flags to watch for.

Course content

6 lessons · 1 h 30 min total

Lesson 1 is open to everyone. An account opens the rest.

1 Surveys and certificates: where lifeboat work fits 12 min · 3D simulator · Quiz Open

How the annual lifeboat examination lines up with the safety equipment survey window, and why the five-yearly work has no window at all.

Open lesson 1

2 Class and approved service firms 14 min · 3D simulator · Quiz With an account

How flags and class societies approve lifeboat service firms for each make and type, and how to check a firm's papers before it starts work.

See how lesson 2 starts

3 Flag rules compared: ten registries side by side 16 min · 3D simulator · Quiz With an account

Which flags approve lifeboat service firms themselves, which accept class approval, and which want a surveyor at the five-yearly test.

See how lesson 3 starts

4 Port State Control and your lifeboats 13 min · 3D simulator · Quiz With an account

What port State inspectors look at around the lifeboats, what the Tokyo MOU figures show, and how to be ready.

See how lesson 4 starts

5 Planning lifeboat service for a fleet 14 min · 3D simulator · Quiz With an account

How to line up crew checks, drills, annual and five-yearly service and falls renewal with survey windows and port calls.

See how lesson 5 starts

6 Buying lifeboat service well 13 min · 3D simulator · Quiz With an account

What a good quote, scope and service report contain, how to check a provider's papers, and the red flags to watch for.

See how lesson 6 starts

Final quiz
15 questions from across the course · pass with 12After the lessons

Course completed card
With your name and a link anyone can checkAt the end

Inside a lesson

Every lesson in this course has the same five steps: a primer, a 3D tour of the part (Watch it), the reading, a task you do on the 3D machine yourself (Try it) and a short quiz. 6 lessons use this simulator.

A fire-protected enclosed lifeboat on a gravity davit at a ship's side, with its winch, falls and release hooks

Who this is for

Superintendents
DPAs
Ship managers

No experience needed: every lesson starts with a short primer in plain words.

Your Course completed card

Finish every lesson and pass the final quiz (12 of 15) to get a Course completed card with your name and a QR code anyone can scan to verify.

Share it on LinkedIn, WhatsApp and elsewhere, or download the picture.

It shows you completed online familiarisation training. It is not a certificate or an STCW, flag-approved or manufacturer qualification, and it doesn't replace that training.

About this course

An enclosed lifeboat in its cradle on the deck of an offshore vessel — A lifeboat in Khalifa Port, Abu Dhabi, on one of our service jobs.

Lifeboat work is never only a technical job. Every annual and five-yearly service has to fit a survey window, be done by a firm the flag accepts, be witnessed when the flag says so, and leave paperwork that a class surveyor or a port state officer will read later.

This course follows that chain from the office side. It starts with how the safety equipment surveys and certificates work, then explains how class societies approve service firms and how to check a firm’s papers. It compares what ten major flags require, looks at what port state control officers find, and ends with planning and buying service across a fleet.

Flag rules change often. Each lesson gives the notice number and the date we checked it, so you can open the current version before you plan the work.

Written by Al Safwan Marine's service engineers from SOLAS, the IMO codes and circulars, and class and flag rules. The sources are listed at the end of every lesson.

Surveys, PSC and compliance

Surveys, audits and port state control

How surveys, safety and labour audits and port state inspections work, and how a ship gets ready for them.

7 lessons1 h 45 minPractical

Surveys, PSC and compliance

Environmental compliance equipment

Oily water separators, bilge alarms, the Oil Record Book and ballast water systems, ready for inspection.

6 lessons1 h 29 minPractical

Lifeboats and liferafts

Lifeboat safety and the rules

Why lifeboats hurt people, which rules keep crews safe, and what to check, log and leave to specialists.

8 lessons1 h 30 minIntroductory

Ready? Lesson 1 takes 12 minutes.

Free during our launch period. On your phone or computer, no password.

Start course

Flag, class and PSC6 lessons