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Lifeboat safetyLesson 6 of 8

Drills without accidents

How often lifeboats, free-fall boats and rescue boats must be drilled and launched under SOLAS III/19, and how to run those drills safely.

13 minutes · For signed-up learners, free · Rules checked 20 October 2026

Drawing of an empty lifeboat being lowered from its davit, with a drill checklist

In plain words

Drills teach the crew to use the lifeboats before a real emergency. They also show whether the boats and davits actually work. That is why SOLAS asks for an abandon ship drill every month, and for every lifeboat to be put in the water and driven by its crew at least every three months.

But drills have also hurt and killed seafarers. Boats have fallen when a hook opened, a wire broke or a lashing was left in place. So the drill rules come with safety guidance from IMO: plan the drill, read the manual first, lower the boat empty before anyone gets in, and put only the people needed to drive it in the boat.

This lesson sets out what must happen and how often, then the steps that keep a drill safe. The tool below turns the frequencies into a one-year calendar for your ship.

Key points

  • Every crew member takes part in at least one abandon ship drill every month, and drills are held within 24 hours of leaving port if more than 25% of the crew missed last month’s drill on that ship (SOLAS III/19.3.2).
  • Each abandon ship drill includes lowering at least one lifeboat and starting and operating its engine (SOLAS III/19.3.4.1).
  • Each lifeboat is launched and manoeuvred in the water by its assigned operating crew at least once every three months (SOLAS III/19.3.4.3).
  • Free-fall boats: every three months the crew boards and goes through the launch procedure up to release; at least every six months the boat is free-fall launched with its operating crew, or a simulated launch is done (SOLAS III/19.3.4.4).
  • Rescue boats are launched with their crew and manoeuvred each month where reasonable and practicable, and in all cases at least every three months (SOLAS III/19.3.4.6).
  • Lower and recover the boat empty first, then put in only the people needed to operate it (MSC.1/Circ.1578/Rev.1, 2.3.2).

Continue this lesson free

The rest of this lesson, the interactive Plan a year of drills and the quiz are open to signed-up learners. It's free, takes a minute, and opens every lesson in all 14 courses.

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Sources

  1. Revised guidelines on safety during abandon ship drills using lifeboatsIMO MSC.1/Circ.1578/Rev.1, 6 July 2026
  2. Adoption of amendments to SOLAS 1974 (new chapter III)IMO resolution MSC.47(66), 4 June 1996
  3. Amendments to SOLAS (regulation III/19, three-monthly launch)IMO resolution MSC.152(78), 20 May 2004
  4. Amendments to SOLAS (regulation III/19, free-fall drills)IMO resolution MSC.216(82), 8 December 2006
  5. Amendments to SOLAS (enclosed space drills, renumbering of regulation III/19)IMO resolution MSC.350(92), 21 June 2013
  6. Investigation report: lifeboat release on board Harmony of the SeasBEAmer, published by the Bahamas Maritime Authority, May 2017
  7. MPA Shipping Circular No. 8 of 2026 (MSC 111 resolutions)Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, 27 August 2026
  8. ABS Regulatory News: Brief MSC 111ABS, 22 May 2026

Free awareness training. Al Safwan Marine is not an approved training provider, so no certificate is given, and these courses are not a qualification. They don't replace STCW training, manufacturer training or the certification technicians need for this work. The manufacturer's manual and your flag's rules always come first.

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This lesson is also published by our sister site lifeboatinspections.com.