Lifeboat Safety

[moktay]

Trying to upload a file from a USA Merchant Marine Facebook site. Having problems, going to share to my Facebook Page Michael J.Taylor if any of you are on Facebook. It is called Fall From Grace. Should be of interest to all Mariners. Google The fall from Grace lifeboat safety.

[j.sabourn]

Wonder how many ships with the old radial davits still going around. JS

[j.sabourn]

Don't really know what post is about as unable to open re lifeboat safety. Having spent some time working with small craft however can confirm as most seamen on here off the deck will know that the most dangerous time for the crew of such are re launching and recovery. Nowadays is not the old lifeboat ticket of our times but a cox"n ticket for semi rigid or rigid boats. When time is spent launching and recovering these boats on a daily basis there has to be rapport between the coxn of the boat and the mother ship. The best and finest means of doing this was on three vessels of the same company, they were the Johnshaven, the Sandhaven, and Burnhaven which I was on. These boats were launched and recovered from a single fall. The 3 ships themselves had azimuth thrusters on each end and could turn the ship in 360 degrees in its own length and flatten the sea for sufficient time to recover the boat. There were no awkward blocks or anything to try and engage or disengage. Recovery was simply hooking on to the wire fall anywhere and was then whisked automatically out of the water, the same as launching on hitting the water was a quick release hook a short jerk on same released, the same as the painters. When I served on these vessels I put myself in an imaginary position in place of another vessel I had been on, and would have been a godsend having such a vessel at the time. I give a lot of credit to these owners who obviously thought about the job in a correct manner of thinking. JS

[John Arton]

JS
On ships fitted with a free fall lifeboat they will also have a rescue boat fitted. My rescue boat was on a single arm swinging davit {powered but with a pleat bladder as a stored power back up operating system in the event of a power failure} It was powered by a 50hp outboard and could carry 6 persons in comfort. It was launched and recovered on a single fall fitted with a quick release hook for detaching from the fall wire on launching. On recovery it could be a bit of a bugger to engage the release hook as it had a locking pin that had to be engaged before hoisting the boat out of the water. We used to use this boat many times for jollies ashore when at anchor and for ship visiting.
I think what that U.S.A. article is referring too is the number of deaths resulting from the on load release gear fitted to enclosed davit launched lifeboats, failing whilst the boat is being lowered. There are a number of well documented casualties where this has occurred, recently crew members on a passenger ship were injured/killed when this release gear failed whilst the boat was been lowered but before it had reached water level, resulting in the boat falling from a height. There was also the case of 3? British seamen killed a number of years ago when a similar incident occurred on a North sea ferry in Hull.
The problem always seems to relate to the locking device that prevents the fall hooks releasing until the boat hits the water. The automatic release of the hooks is meant to be caused by hydrostatic pressure on the release mechanism once the boat has landed in the water.
Another problem with this type of lifeboat is that the arrangement of the lifting hook within the lifeboats construction is often hidden from view and can be suspect to rusting and wastage leading to weakening and possible failure of the whole lifting apparatus. There are strict instructions to surveyors carrying out Safety Equipment surveys to examine closely all the construction and state of this lifting hooks and their release arrangements.
On one ship I was master on, she was only 10 yrs old, we had to get dispensation to sail with only one lifeboat, replaced by an extra liferaft, whilst each boat was sent ashore for major repairs to the lifting hooks. This required the cutting away of part of the fibreglass hull surrounding the metal lifting hook that was attached to the boats keel and renewing the wasted metal, thereafter upon satisfactory completion of repairs the boat and lifting/launching arrangement had to be load tested at the repair outfits work place before being returned on board. In all it took around two months to complete repairs to both boats and we had been very fortunate not to have had a major incident when launching these boats during routine drills as the metal in the arrangements had wasted away by around 50% due to it been hidden within part of the boats construction and been virtually inaccessible for routine inspection. It was only when the surveyor and myself were carrying out a renewal survey and started poking a knife through the fibre glass surrounding the lifting hook did we realise that they were in a parlous state and warranted further inspection that revealed the true extent of the wastage.
rgds
JA

[Keith Tindell]

I posted a few days ago on a book *the real cruel sea by Richard Woodman*, very factual on the losses incurred by the MN, and what was highlighted was the number of lives lost launching lifeboats.The number of times a lifeboat fall was detached from one end only in a big sea, resulting in the lifeboat being suspended when the wave fell, and tipping the occupants in the drink. Also the number of times under panic conditions the lifeboat was launched while the ship was still under way. A large number of persons were lost in this fashion, KT

[cappy]

####exactly that happened on a tramp when the apprentice paintingthe lifeboat under an awning went over the wall ......it was a shambles although a bit of a swell was running the boat hit the water bow end ist ....as the boat rose on the swell the forward AB loosed his falls ......sadly the ship was still under way ......the boat swung round as the after fall was still fast the men in the boat were both hurt ......it was a complete cock up .....happily after a few hours the boy was spotted by the second lifeboat succesfully launched .......it was raining and a mist was forming it was also coming dark ........a very lucky boy.......ps no motors just oars were used in the boats ....regards cappy

[j.sabourn]

JA Think the set up we had was slightly different as was no need to hook up to any blocks on recovery, was just and open hook with a spring guard on to hook onto wire anywhere on the wire fall. Cappy as regards using the old lifeboats as Man Overboard Rescue boats is I would imagine these days out of fashion as usually most ships carry a DOTI boat or small inflatable. When I am talking about FRCs these have self righting bags on probably at least twin at least 80 H.P. engines can support about 12 people. In fact some of them were launched of special construction to be independent of the mother ship for a day at a time and had a small galley on board. The principle of the old lifeboats is what they were lifeboats to be launched and that was it as ship was expected to sink and recovery not required, should imagine that was one of the reasons why some ships carried jolly boats as smaller and easier to handle. Everyone including the master has to hold a Coxns licence on these ships I am referring to. Most offshore tonnage doesn't carry lifeboats these days, only liferafts, FRC"s and a DOTI boat. The DOTI boat is the Dept. of Trade and Industry boat. We used to launch just for practice in a force 6, I called it in after that if just for practice. However once you were clear of the ships side you were supposedly as safe as houses as boats were unsinkable supposedly, unless of course blown up, however if prone to seasickness no place to be. Cheers John S

[happy daze john in oz]

How would you be in one of the new ones they launch from the stern. Seen a couple in practice, if not careful serious damage could be done to those inside.

[j.sabourn]

#8 There again these are lifeboats and not expected I suppose for recovery. Any port in a storm is the so called cure. Myself personally I would rather go over the side in the conventional way. JS

[John Arton]

J.S and John in OZ
To my mind the free fall over the stern is these days the safest way to evacuate. The system used does not rely on any on load release gear that can fail before the boat reaches water level as in the case of conventional davit launched fully enclosed lifeboats.
With the free fall system everyone is first strapped in facing aft in specially designed seating that includes head restraints. One person then operates hydraulic jacks that lift the stern of the boat clear of the locking device, which consist of a small skeg attached to the boats keel that sits upstream of a matching bracket welded on onto the davit {think of how you bend your finger over to lock your hands together, that looks like the arrangement for securing these boats}. At sea there is a wire strop passed over the transom of the boat to keep it locked down and prevent any possible release of the boat due to pounding of the ship in heavy weather.
Once the hydraulic jacks {fitted into the keel of the boat}have raised the skeg clear of the lock plate, gravity takes over and down the ramp you go and off the stern. On hitting the water the boats design is such that the shock imparted to the occupants is akin to that when you do an emergency stop in your car and so if you are strapped in correctly your body is not subjected to dangerous forces.
To recover the boat there can be two different means. Some ships have a small crane fitted that can lift the boat and place it back into its launching position but on the ships I was on there was a cradle that swung out over the stern. It was fitted with a hoisting winch to which a bridle arrangement on the lifeboat could be attached. This lifted the boat at the correct angle and the cradle was retracted bringing the boat back up the ramp to its stowed position.
To comply with the SOLAS regs. for having the boat in the water and exercised at least once every 3 months, the recovery system can be used to do a "controlled" launch whereby the recovery bridle is attached to the recovery winch and the boat lowered into the water under controlled conditions. This method of launching is acceptable to all flag state and class surveyors, all they will check is that the side rollers that keep the boat aligned as it goes down the ramp are free and turning. As it would be difficult if not impossible to recover a free fall boat in any kind of seaway the are designed to be a shoot and go abandon ship means and hence the need to have a dedicated recoverable rescue boat fitted. With davit launched enclosed lifeboats one of them is designated to be the rescue boat.
With open lifeboats in the old days, we always had rope hanging off pennants fitted to the fall block and in rough seas we used these to get the boat out of the water and up to the embarkation deck level where the boat could then be bowsed in, the eye of the chain on the fall block could then be safely attached to the boats lifting hook. This removed the danger of anyones hands been trapped as they were fitting the fall block onto the boat hook and also meant that there was no jerking motion of the boat as it rose and fell in any swell before it got clear of the water when being recovered and also removed the danger of any one been struck by the swinging fall block.
I think it is now a requirement for enclosed davit launched lifeboats to have a similar back up method fitted, even when lowering. This means that should for any reason the on load release gear open prior to the boat being in the water, this back up arrangement would take over, supporting the boat until it reached water level.
rgds
JA