2 Fast Rescue Boat Equipment
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Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Resolutions - Assembly - IMO Resolution A.656(16) – Fast Rescue Boats – (Adopted on 19 October 1989) - Annex - Guidelines for Fast Rescue Boats - 2 Fast Rescue Boat Equipment

2 Fast Rescue Boat Equipment

  2.1 All items of fast rescue boat equipment, with the exception of boat-hooks which should be kept free for fending off purposes, should be secured within the rescue boat by lashings, storage in lockers or compartments, storage in brackets or similar mounting arrangements, or other suitable means. The equipment should be secured in such a manner as not to interfere with any launching or recovery procedures. All items of fast rescue boat equipment should be as small and of as little mass as possible and should be packed in suitable and compact form.

  2.2 The normal equipment of every fast rescue boat should consist of:

  • .1 sufficient buoyant oars or paddles to make headway in calm seas, and thole pins, crutches or equivalent arrangements which should be provided for each oar and be attached to the boat by lanyards or chains;

  • .2 a buoyant bailer;

  • .3 a binnacle containing an efficient compass which is luminous or provided with suitable means of illumination;

  • .4 a sea-anchor with a hawser of adequate strength not less than 10 m in length;

  • .5 a painter of sufficient length and strength, attached to the release device complying with the requirements of SOLAS Regulation III/41.7.7 and placed at the forward end of the rescue boat;

  • .6 one buoyant line, not less than 50 m in length, of sufficient strength to tow a liferaft as required by paragraph 1.7;

  • .7 one waterproof electric torch suitable for Morse signalling, together with one spare set of batteries and one spare bulb in a waterproof container;

  • .8 one whistle or equivalent sound signal;

  • .9 a first-aid outfit in a waterproof case capable of being closed tightly after use;

  • .10 two buoyant rescue quoits, attached to not less than 30 m of buoyant line;

  • .11 a searchlight capable of effectively illuminating a light-coloured object at night having a width of 18 m at a distance of 180 m for a total period of 6 hours and of working for at least 3 hours continuously;

  • .12 unless a radar transponder is stowed in the fast rescue boat, an efficient radar reflector;

  • .13 thermal protective aids complying with the requirements of SOLAS Regulation III/34 sufficient for 10% of the number of persons the rescue boat is permitted to accommodate or two, whichever is the greater.

  2.3 In addition to the equipment required by paragraph 2.2, the normal equipment of every rigid fast rescue boat should include:

  • .1 a boat-hook;

  • .2 a bucket;

  • .3 a knife or hatchet.

  2.4 In addition to the equipment required by paragraph 2.2, the normal equipment of every rigid/inflated and every inflated fast rescue boat should consist of:

  • .1 a buoyant safety knife;

  • .2 two sponges;

  • .3 an efficient manually-operated bellows or pump;

  • .4 a repair kit in a suitable container for repairing punctures;

  • .5 a safety boat-hook.

  2.5 A fast rescue boat should, if possible, be equipped with an easily operated fixed single-point suspension arrangement or equivalent.

  2.6 Hooks and fastening devices for lowering and hoisting fast rescue boats should be so designed as to have a safety factor of 6 on the ultimate strength in relation to the loads occurring in a fully loaded condition.

Parent topic: Annex - Guidelines for Fast Rescue Boats
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