200804 Faulty liferaft securing

The hydrostatic release unit (HRU) is secured to an open hook on the cradle. When manually launching this raft, after releasing the senhouse slip, and during the pre-launch manoeuvres, it is most probable that the HRU along with the painter end and the weak link will topple, as shown by the dashed arrow, and slide off the open hook (figure 1).

 

 

If the crew fail to re-secure the painter before launching, this liferaft will certainly be lost along with the painter. Further, in the event of the ship capsizing, despite the automatic HRU release underwater it is likely that the painter will probably slide off the open hook and that this will prevent the automatic inflation of the liferaft.