Lifeboat training kit

Letter from Capt Shridhar Nivas MNI (March 2008) proposing training kit be provided by manufacturers

Seaways March 2008

In view of recurring accidents with lifeboat release mechanisms, and the fact that improved designs are not likely to be retrofitted on the vast majority of ships, I propose that manufacturers be required to provide each ship with a training kit consisting of the following:

• a release handle with linkage to a sample lifeboat hoisting hook, all mounted on a portable table, with a part canopy and door, if appropriate;
• a replica lower block, complete with lifting ring, reeved with a short length of wire rope that can be secured at a convenient height; and
• a video clip demonstrating correct operation.

The ship’s crew can then be regularly and safely trained. For greater realism, releasing and re-engaging of hooks can be practised to perfection when the vessel is moving in a seaway.
If this training kit is provided, perhaps IMO can ease the three-monthly lifeboat launch requirement to perhaps twice a year, as on fast turnaround container and ro-ro vessels, I rarely had the opportunity or sea state to safely conduct this drill.

Captain Shridhar Nivas MNI, Mumbai, India