3 Additional Requirements for Rigid, Inflated and Rigid/Inflated Fast Rescue Boats
Clasification Society 2024 - Version 9.40
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 - 3 Additional Requirements for Rigid, Inflated and Rigid/Inflated Fast Rescue Boats

3 Additional Requirements for Rigid, Inflated and Rigid/Inflated Fast Rescue Boats

  3.1 The requirements of SOLAS Regulations III/41.1.3 and 41.1.5 do not apply to rigid, inflated and rigid/inflated fast rescue boats.

  3.2 A rigid, inflated and rigid/inflated fast rescue boat should be constructed in such a way that, when suspended by its bridle or lifting hook:

  • .1 it is of sufficient strength and rigidity to enable it to be lowered and recovered with its full complement of persons and equipment;

  • .2 it is of sufficient strength to withstand a load of 4 times the mass of its full complement of persons and equipment at an ambient temperature of 20±3°C, with all relief valves inoperative.

  • .3 it is of sufficient strength to withstand a load of 1.1 times the mass of its full complement of persons and equipment at an ambient temperature of -30°C, with all relief valves operative;

  3.3 Rigid, inflated and rigid/inflated fast rescue boats should be so constructed as to be capable of withstanding exposure:

  • .1 when stowed on an open deck on a ship at sea;

  • .2 for 30 days afloat in all sea conditions.

  3.4 In addition to complying with the requirements of SOLAS Regulation III/41.9, rigid, inflated and rigid/inflated fast rescue boats should be marked with a serial number, the maker's name or trade mark and the date of manufacture.

  3.5 The buoyancy of a rigid, inflated and rigid/inflated fast rescue boat should be provided by either a single tube subdivided into at least five separate compartments of approximately equal volume or two separate tubes neither exceeding 60% of the total volume. The buoyancy tubes should be so arranged that, in the event of any one of the compartments being damaged, the intact compartments should be able to support the number of persons which the fast rescue boat is permitted to accommodate, each having a mass of 75 kg, when seated in their normal positions with positive freeboard over the fast rescue boat's entire periphery.

  3.6 The buoyancy tubes forming the boundary of the rigid, inflated and rigid/inflated fast rescue boat should, on inflation, provide a volume of not less than 0.17 m3 for each person the fast rescue boat is permitted to accommodate.

  3.7 Each buoyancy compartment should be fitted with a non-return valve for manual inflation and means for deflation. A safety relief valve should also be fitted unless the Administration is satisfied that such an appliance is unnecessary.

  3.8 Underneath the bottom and on vulnerable places on the outside of the rigid, inflated and rigid/inflated fast rescue boat, rubbing strips should be provided to the satisfaction of the Administration.

  3.9 Where a transom is fitted it should not be inset by more than 20% of the overall length of the fast rescue boat.

  3.10 Suitable patches should be provided for securing the painters fore and aft and the becketed lifelines inside and outside the fast rescue boat.

  3.11 The inflated fast rescue boat should be maintained at all times in a fully inflated condition.


Copyright 2022 Clasifications Register Group Limited, International Maritime Organization, International Labour Organization or Maritime and Coastguard Agency. All rights reserved. Clasifications Register Group Limited, its affiliates and subsidiaries and their respective officers, employees or agents are, individually and collectively, referred to in this clause as 'Clasifications Register'. Clasifications Register assumes no responsibility and shall not be liable to any person for any loss, damage or expense caused by reliance on the information or advice in this document or howsoever provided, unless that person has signed a contract with the relevant Clasifications Register entity for the provision of this information or advice and in that case any responsibility or liability is exclusively on the terms and conditions set out in that contract.