Personal life-saving appliances
Lifebuoy
You throw it to a man overboard as the first reaction, so they can stay afloat before the bigger rescue starts.
Key facts
- Lifebuoys are distributed on both sides and near the gangways, ready to be dropped instantly without unpacking.
- The buoy’s weight is no accident: the extra mass lets a throw punch through the wind and reach its target instead of being blown away.
- The light above the water guides the rescuer: no less than half of the buoys have a self-igniting light, and at least two of them additionally a smoke signal, quick-released from the bridge.
- Every buoy has a grabline secured in four equal loops, so a survivor can grip the buoy from any side, however it lies on the waves.
- A buoyant lifeline is a different thing: at least one buoy on each side has one, so a person can be pulled back to the ship. Those buoys deliberately have no lights or smoke signals.
- The number of lifebuoys grows with the ship’s length.
Technical parameters
- Outer diameter
- not more than 800 mm
- Inner diameter
- not less than 400 mm
- Minimum mass
- at least 2.5 kg
- Mass of the buoy with smoke signal and light
- at least 4 kg, to trip the quick-release from the bridge
- Grabline
- diameter at least 9.5 mm, length at least 4 times the outer diameter of the buoy, secured in four equal loops
- Buoyant lifeline
- diameter at least 8 mm, breaking strength at least 5 kN; length at least 30 m or twice the stowage height above the waterline, whichever is greater
- Self-igniting light
- white, at least 2 cd for at least 2 hours, or 50 to 70 flashes a minute; cannot be extinguished by water
- Smoke signal
- highly visible smoke for at least 15 minutes, and for another 10 seconds after full submersion
- Buoyancy
- supports 14.5 kg of iron in fresh water for 24 hours
- Colour
- orange, with bands of retro-reflective tape
How this equipment is checked
- Drop into the water from the stowage height, no less than 30 metres, without damage, plus three drops from 2 metres onto a concrete floor.
- Fire test: the buoy is passed over a tray of burning fuel; after leaving the flames it must not burn or keep melting.
- Resistance to diesel oil: 24 hours fully submerged, without cracking, swelling or loss of properties.
- Temperature cycling from -30°C to +65°C, ten cycles of 8 hours, without cracking or distortion.
Prototype and production tests per IMO resolution MSC.81(70). That is why the certificate means something: the gear passes what a person would not survive.
Watch out
Do not confuse the buoy’s light-and-smoke signal (an automatic marker of a person’s position in the water) with the pyrotechnic buoyant smoke signal held in the hand as a distress signal.
Legal basis
SOLAS III/7.1 and III/32; LSA Code section 2.1 (buoy: 2.1.1, light: 2.1.2, smoke signal: 2.1.3, lifeline: 2.1.4). Tests per IMO res. MSC.81(70).
This is not a legal text: when in doubt, the current wording of the Convention and the LSA Code decides.