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Liferafts and personal LSALesson 6 of 8

Immersion suits, anti-exposure suits and thermal protective aids

You will be able to inspect an immersion suit properly, know when its seams must be air tested, and know how flags treat suits over ten years old.

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

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Cold water kills faster than drowning. An insulated immersion suit keeps a person’s core temperature from dropping more than 2 °C over six hours in near-freezing water, but only if water stays out. That depends on two things the crew cannot see from the outside of the bag: a zip that runs freely, and seams whose glue has not aged.

Inspectors keep finding the same faults. From 1 January 2023, immersion suit defects made up nearly a third of all life-saving deficiencies in the Marshall Islands’ flag State inspections. Stiff or broken zips were the biggest single cause, failed seams the next, followed by holes, missing lights or whistles and overdue air pressure tests. This lesson gives you the IMO inspection routine step by step, the air test that finds bad seams, and how different flags handle older suits.

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The rest of this lesson, the interactive Monthly inspection: immersion suits in the crew locker 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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In this lesson

  • Try it: Monthly inspection: immersion suits in the crew locker
  • In plain words
  • In detail
  • What the rules say
  • Flag and class notes
  • Key numbers
  • What inspectors find
  • Questions people ask
  • Quiz: 6 questions

Sources

  1. 1 IMO Resolution MSC.152(78), Amendments to SOLAS (adopted 20 May 2004, in force 1 July 2006), new SOLAS regulation III/32.3 (Immersion suits). https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MSCResolutions/MSC.152(78).pdf
  2. 2 IMO MSC/Circ.1047, Guidelines for monthly shipboard inspection of immersion suits and anti-exposure suits by ships’ crews (28 May 2002), Annex paragraphs 1 to 8 (copy published by the Indian Register of Shipping). https://www.irclass.org/media/6651/msc1-circ1047.pdf
  3. 3 IMO MSC/Circ.1114, Guidelines for periodic testing of immersion suit and anti-exposure suit seams and closures (25 May 2004), Annex paragraphs 1 to 4 (reproduced in NOAA Vessel Inspection Bulletin 04-10 Amendment 1). https://www.omao.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Vessel%20Inspection%20Bulletin%2004-10%20Amendment.pdf
  4. 4 LSA Code, IMO Resolution MSC.48(66), sections 2.3 (Immersion suits), 2.4 (Anti-exposure suits), 2.5 (Thermal protective aids) and paragraph 4.1.5.1.24. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MSCResolutions/MSC.48(66).pdf
  5. 5 Liberia Maritime Authority, Marine Notice SAF-007 Rev. 07/20, Lifesaving equipment: immersion suits and thermal protective aids, section 1. https://www.liscr.com/sites/default/files/online_library/SAF-007.pdf
  6. 6 IMO Resolution MSC.207(81), Amendments to the LSA Code (adopted 18 May 2006, in force 1 July 2010), amendments 6 to 21 (sections 2.3 and 2.4). https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MSCResolutions/MSC.207(81).pdf
  7. 7 SOLAS chapter III, regulation 7.3 (Immersion suits and anti-exposure suits), as adopted by IMO Resolution MSC.47(66). https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MSCResolutions/MSC.47(66).pdf
  8. 8 Cayman Islands Shipping Registry, Shipping Notice MACI 003/2007, The carriage, inspection and testing of immersion suits onboard Cayman Islands ships (May 2007), sections 2 and 3. https://cishipping.com/system/files/notices/documents/2007_03_CISN.PDF
  9. 9 UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, MGN 529 (M+F), Life-Saving Appliances: Immersion Suits, Acceptance Criteria for Airtight Packaging (December 2014). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a759cdee5274a545822cde4/MGN_529.pdf
  10. 10 Republic of the Marshall Islands Maritime Administrator, Marine Safety Advisory No. 08-23, Immersion suit defects (23 June 2023), as enclosed in Indian Register of Shipping Technical Circular 015/2023. https://www.irclass.org/media/6654/technical-circular-no15.pdf
  11. 11 IMO Resolution A.1186(33), Survey Guidelines under the HSSC, 2023, Annex items (EA) 1.2.2.31 and 1.2.2.32. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/AssemblyDocuments/A.1186(33).pdf
  12. 12 Indian Register of Shipping, PSC Annual Report 2024, life-saving appliance deficiencies, immersion suits. https://www.irclass.org/media/7954/psc-annual-report-2024.pdf

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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