Title 46
SECTION 108.550
108.550 Survival craft launching and recovery arrangements: General.
§ 108.550 Survival craft launching and recovery arrangements: General.(a)(1) Each launching appliance must be a davit approved under 46 CFR part 160, subpart 160.132 for use with the intended craft, with a winch approved under 46 CFR part 160, subpart 160.115 for use with the intended craft.
(2) Each launching appliance for a davit-launched liferaft must include an automatic disengaging apparatus approved under 46 CFR part 160, subpart 160.170 and be either -
(i) A launching appliance described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section; or
(ii) A launching appliance approved on or before November 10, 2011 under approval series 160.163.
(b) All lifeboats required for abandonment by the total number of persons permitted on board must be capable of being launched with their full complement of persons and equipment within 10 minutes from the time the signal to abandon the unit is given.
(c) Each survival craft must be arranged to clear each leg, column, footing, brace, mat, and each similar structure below the hull of a self-elevating unit and clear the upper hull, the columns, and the pontoons of a column stabilized unit, with the unit in an intact condition.
(1) The survival craft must be arranged to be launched down the straight side of the unit or be mounted on a structure intended to provide clearance from lower structures of the unit.
(2) The OCMI may allow a reduction in the total number of survival craft meeting this requirement when the unit is in the transit mode and the number of personnel on board is reduced. In such cases, sufficient survival craft must be available for use by the total number of personnel remaining on board.
(d) Each lifeboat of aluminum construction in the hull or canopy, and each aluminum launching appliance must be protected in its stowage position by a water spray system meeting the requirements of part 34, subpart 34.25 of this chapter.
(e) With the exception of the secondary means of launching for free-fall lifeboats, each launching appliance together with all its lowering and recovery gear must be arranged in a way that the fully equipped survival craft it serves can be safely lowered when loaded with its full complement of persons, and also without persons, against -
(1) A list of up to 20 degrees on the high side; and
(2) A list of up to 20 degrees or the degree of list where the survival craft becomes waterborne, whichever, is the greater, on the low side.
(f) When the unit is under any unfavorable condition such as maximum airgap, lightest transit or operational condition, or any damaged condition under part 174, subpart C of this chapter, -
(1) Notwithstanding the requirements under § 108.550(e), survival craft launching appliances and marine evacuation systems must be capable of operation;
(2) Falls, where used, must be long enough for survival craft to reach the water; and
(3) Lifeboats with an aggregate capacity that will accommodate the total number of persons permitted on board must be capable of being launched safely, and clear of any obstruction. The location and orientation of each lifeboat must be such that the lifeboat is either headed away from the unit upon launching, or can be turned to a heading away from the unit immediately upon launching.
(g) A launching appliance must not depend on any means other than gravity or stored mechanical power independent of the unit's power supplies to launch the survival craft it serves, in the fully loaded and equipped conditions, and also in the light condition.
(h) Each launching appliance's structural attachment to the vessel must be designed, based on the ultimate strength of the construction material, to be at least 4.5 times the load imparted on the attachment by the launching appliance and its fully loaded survival craft under the most adverse combination of list and trim under paragraph (b) of this section.
(i) Each launching appliance must be arranged so that -
(1) All parts requiring regular maintenance by the crew are readily accessible and easily maintained;
(2) The launching appliance remains effective under conditions of icing;
(3) The same type of release mechanism is used for each similar survival craft carried on board the unit; and
(4) The preparation and handling of survival craft at any one launching station does not interfere with the prompt preparation and handling of any other survival craft at any other station.
(j) Each launching mechanism must be arranged so it may be actuated by one person from a position on the unit's deck, and also from a position within the survival craft. Each launching and recovery arrangement must allow the operator on the deck to observe the survival craft at all times during launching.
(k) Means must be provided outside the machinery space to prevent any discharge of water onto survival craft during abandonment.
[CGD 84-069, 61 FR 25291, May 20, 1996, as amended by USCG-2010-0048, 76 FR 62973, Oct. 11, 2011]