PSC deficiency code 11112: Launching arrangements for survival craft
Area 11 Life-saving appliances
Code 11112 covers the gear that gets a lifeboat or davit-launched liferaft into the water: davits, winches and brakes, falls, sheaves, limit switches, the remote control wire, gripes and, on free-fall boats, the ramp and release. The rescue boat's davit has its own code (11113), and the lifeboat and its hooks go under 11101. The inspector's doubt is whether the craft could be lowered under control with people in it.
What the inspector looks at
Most inspectors want the boat swung out and lowered, often to the water.
- davit arms, sheaves and pins moving freely, without seized parts or heavy wastage
- the winch brake holding the load, and the centrifugal brake controlling lowering speed
- falls: condition, and the dates last turned end for end and renewed
- limit switches, and the remote control wire that lets someone inside the boat lower it
- gripes and their quick release
- on free-fall lifeboats, the hydraulic release and the arrangement for simulated launching
- weekly and monthly inspection records and the annual and five-yearly reports
Common findings
- Lifeboat could not be lowered, winch brake slipping
- Falls not turned end for end, renewal date passed
- Davit limit switch inoperative
- Remote control wire seized
- Sheaves seized and corroded, no evidence of greasing
- Annual thorough examination of launching appliances overdue
The rule behind it
SOLAS chapter III, regulation 16 covers survival craft launching and recovery arrangements, and regulation 20 covers maintenance and the weekly and monthly inspections. Under regulation 20, falls are turned end for end at intervals of not more than 30 months and renewed when deterioration makes it necessary or at intervals of not more than 5 years, whichever is earlier. The LSA Code, chapter VI, gives the requirements for launching appliances. The annual and five-yearly thorough examinations, including winch brake tests, follow IMO resolution MSC.402(96), mandatory through SOLAS chapter III.
Action codes you are likely to see
Survival craft and their launching arrangements appear among the examples of detainable deficiencies in the IMO port State control procedures, so a davit or winch that can't lower the boat under control can be written as 30. Falls past their renewal date are usually 17, and badly deteriorated falls can lead to 30. Greasing issues tend to be 16 or 17, record gaps 16 or 18. See action taken codes and what to do after a PSC detention.
How to close it
The crew can free and grease sheaves, clear the remote control wire and turn falls end for end, recording each job. Brake and winch repairs, and the tests after them, need a service provider authorised under MSC.402(96), whose report states the tests and results. New falls come with the maker's certificate. Then lower the boat in front of the inspector and log it as a drill. Keep the report, certificate, photos and drill entry with the Form B. Related: lifeboats, rescue boats, inflatable liferafts and on board training and instructions.