Lesson 3 · 12 min
Know your boat
The types of lifeboat and rescue boat, which ones a ship carries, and what each main system on board does, with the LSA Code paragraph behind it.
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The 2-minute primer
New to this? These 6 cards explain the lesson in plain words. Go through them first and the lesson will make sense.
Primer done.
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1/6Picture this
A lifeboat is a little ship that waits
Think of the spare tyre in the boot of a car. You hardly ever look at it, but on the one day you need it, it has to work first time, and you have to know where the jack is.
A lifeboat is the ship’s spare. It sits on deck for years, then one day everyone’s life depends on it.
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2/6The big idea
Different ships, different boats
Not every lifeboat is the same. Some are lowered down the ship’s side on wires. Some slide off a ramp at the back and drop into the sea. Some carry their own air, or spray water over themselves to get through burning oil.
This lesson walks you round the main types and the main parts, so you know what you are looking at.
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3/6Words you'll meet
Six words, in plain English
- Totally enclosed lifeboat
- a boat with a solid roof all over, like a sealed capsule, that turns itself upright if it rolls over.
- Free-fall lifeboat
- a boat that sits on a sloping ramp and drops straight into the sea, people strapped into their seats.
- Davit
- the crane arm that swings the boat out over the side and lowers it on wires.
- Release hooks
- the hooks that hold the boat to the wires and let go of it once it is in the water.
- Approval plate
- a small metal plate on the boat saying who made it, when, and how many people it may carry.
- LSA Code
- the international rulebook for life-saving equipment, such as lifeboats, liferafts and lifejackets.
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4/6Why it matters
You can’t spot wrong if you don’t know right
In an emergency there is no time to read the manual. The crew must use the boat without thinking.
During checks it matters too: a missing seat belt, a hook that is not fully closed or an engine that won’t start are only obvious to someone who knows what the boat should look like.
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5/6In this lesson
What you’ll be able to do
- Name the main lifeboat types and say which ships carry which.
- Point to the main systems on a boat: engine, hooks, air supply, sprinklers.
- Read an approval plate and know why it is there.
- Know which part of the rulebook covers each part of the boat.
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6/6Quick check
A tanker’s boat has sprinklers on its roof. Why?
Right: tankers can spill burning oil on the water, so their boats can spray water over themselves for at least 8 minutes to get clear.
In plain words
Not all lifeboats are the same. A free-fall boat sliding off the stern of a bulk carrier is very different from a davit-launched boat on a tanker, and both differ from a small rescue boat.
The type of boat decides which systems it has. A tanker’s boat may carry its own air supply and a sprinkler to protect people from burning oil. A free-fall boat has strong seats and seat belts for the drop into the sea. Every boat lowered on falls has release hooks, and the on-load part of that gear needs special care.
Knowing your own boat matters for two reasons. In an emergency, you must be able to use it without thinking. During checks, you can only spot what is wrong if you know what right looks like. Start with the approval plate, then walk round the boat with its manual.
Key points
- Cargo ships carry totally enclosed lifeboats on each side for everyone on board, or a free-fall lifeboat over the stern for everyone, plus liferafts (SOLAS III/31.1).
- Every lifeboat carries a permanently fixed approval plate showing the maker, model, serial number, date of manufacture and number of persons (LSA Code 4.4.1.2, MSC.218(82)).
- A lifeboat engine must start within 2 minutes at −15 °C and carry fuel for 24 hours at 6 knots (LSA Code 4.4.6).
- An air-support lifeboat keeps the air safe to breathe, with the engine running, for at least 10 minutes with all openings closed (LSA Code 4.8).
- A fire-protected lifeboat protects its occupants in a continuous oil fire for at least 8 minutes, using a water-spray system (LSA Code 4.9).
- A rescue boat is 3.8 m to 8.5 m long and carries at least five seated persons and one on a stretcher (LSA Code 5.1.1.3).
- Lifeboat equipment, from painters and flares to water and food rations, is checked against one list (LSA Code 4.4.8).
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In the rest of this lesson
- The detail
- Deep dive
- Try it: Explore the parts of a lifeboat
- Quiz: 5 questions
- Ask our engineers about this lesson
Familiarisation training from Al Safwan Academy. Finishing a course shows completion of online familiarisation training: it is not an STCW, flag-approved or manufacturer qualification, and these courses don't replace that training. The manufacturer's manual and your flag's rules always come first.