200141 Lifeboat Problems

Lifeboat Problems
Report No. 200141

I agree that "lifeboat remote release wires" are really dangerous and am aware of the danger after some near miss incidents. Fortunately, so far no serious accidents have happened.

My colleagues and I have been wondering why many ships are still built with traditional lifeboat davits. This system is very sensitive to all kinds of problems with many wires running through rollers, making sharp turns etc. Davits suffer from continuous corrosion and are not easily accessible for maintenance.

If the vessel is "slamming" into a swell, it is more likely to encounter problems with lowering a boat with davits because fore and aft falls will not lower at the same rate. Davits only work well when the sea is calm.

I hope that this report will start a general discussion about how long we will continue to build ships with these old fashioned traditional lifeboat davits onboard ships. There is at least one good solution where the boat has a single point hoisting/lowering system with an electric motor. This allows rapid hoisting and lowering of the boat which is important in heavy sea/swell conditions. It is also safer when you need to make fast only one hook and you are ready to hoist a whole lifeboat up.

A single point fastening system is used for MOB-boat davits because it is easier, faster and safer. The only requirement is an electric motor which is strong enough for heavy boats. In my opinion, the problem is not only remote release wires but boat and davit design.