Question 1

LY3 specifies that rescue boats must meet SOLAS/LSA Code requirements. What is the minimum complement and equipment for an LY3 rescue boat?

Accepted Answer

An approved rescue boat accommodating at least five seated persons and one person lying on a stretcher, ready for immediate use, with prescribed equipment and suitable launching and recovery arrangements.. Under LSA Code paragraph 5.1.1.3, a rescue boat must accommodate at least five seated persons and one person lying on a stretcher. This is a capacity requirement, not a minimum operating crew. It must meet the applicable approval, propulsion, manoeuvring, launching and recovery requirements and carry the equipment prescribed by section 5.1.2. Equipment includes a suitable painter, sea anchor, compass, first-aid outfit and a searchlight meeting specified performance requirements. A torch is not a substitute for that searchlight, and food rations are not part of the standard rescue-boat equipment list. Additional equipment requirements differ for rigid and inflated rescue boats. There is no general LSA Code rescue-boat equipment category described as 'Area 1 additions'.

Question 2

LY3 Area 1 vessels must carry immersion suits. Who must they be provided for and what performance standard must they meet?

Accepted Answer

For everyone aboard; SOLAS/LSA compliant: six-hour protection at 0-2°C, donning within two minutes, 4.5m jumping capability, short-distance swimming and survival-craft boarding.. D describes provision for everyone aboard and the performance of inherently insulated immersion suits. Under LSA Code section 2.3, an inherently insulated immersion suit must limit the wearer's body core temperature decline to no more than 2°C after six hours in calm circulating water at 0-2°C. The separate thermal test for suits without inherent insulation is one hour in water at 5°C, with the prescribed warm clothing, and the same maximum temperature decline. The suit must be capable of being unpacked and donned without assistance within two minutes, including associated clothing and a lifejacket where required. It must permit a jump from at least 4.5 m without damage, dislodgement or injury, and enable short-distance swimming and boarding a survival craft. The description 'Area 1 (ocean)' and its associated carriage requirement should be checked against the applicable LY3 provisions rather than inferred from the LSA performance standard.

Question 3

Your liferaft is stowed in a cradle with a hydrostatic release unit (HRU). The vessel sinks rapidly. Describe how the HRU works.

Accepted Answer

At 1.5-4m, water pressure activates the HRU, severing lashings; the vessel-attached painter tensions, triggering inflation, then its weak link breaks, freeing the raft.. A hydrostatic release unit (HRU) operates automatically under water pressure, typically at a depth of 1.5 to 4 m. In a common cutter-type HRU, a knife cuts the securing rope, releasing the liferaft's restraint so that the buoyant canister can float free. As the vessel sinks, the painter attached to the vessel pays out and becomes taut, operating the raft's gas inflation system. The weak link then breaks, freeing the inflated raft from the sinking vessel. Water pressure activates the HRU, not the cradle. Suitable float-free stowage is needed for successful automatic deployment: the released canister must be able to rise without obstruction. A raft trapped inside a closed locker cannot float free even if its HRU operates.

LSA, questions and explanations

LY3 specifies that rescue boats must meet SOLAS/LSA Code requirements. What is the minimum complement and equipment for an LY3 rescue boat?

LY3 Area 1 vessels must carry immersion suits. Who must they be provided for and what performance standard must they meet?

Your liferaft is stowed in a cradle with a hydrostatic release unit (HRU). The vessel sinks rapidly. Describe how the HRU works.

Practise this properly

LSA, questions and explanations

Questions

LY3 specifies that rescue boats must meet SOLAS/LSA Code requirements. What is the minimum complement and equipment for an LY3 rescue boat?

LY3 Area 1 vessels must carry immersion suits. Who must they be provided for and what performance standard must they meet?

Your liferaft is stowed in a cradle with a hydrostatic release unit (HRU). The vessel sinks rapidly. Describe how the HRU works.

Practise this properly