THE ASSEMBLY,
RECALLING
Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning
the functions of the Assembly in relation to regulations and guidelines concerning
maritime safety,
NOTING the current extensive use of
fast rescue boats, in particular in offshore activities for rescue purposes,
RECALLING the intent of the 1983 amendments to chapter
III of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, regarding
life-saving appliances, in particular rescue boats,
BEING OF THE OPINION that fast rescue boats are of value in certain circumstances for
the rescue, in particular, of persons involved in offshore operations,
RECOGNIZING THEREFORE the need for the development of guidelines
for fast rescue boats,
HAVING CONSIDERED the
recommendation made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its fifty-seventh session,
1. ADOPTS the Guidelines for Fast Rescue Boats
contained in the Annex to this resolution;
2.
INVITES all Governments concerned:
(a) to take appropriate
steps to give effect to the Guidelines for Fast Rescue Boats as early as possible;
(b) to inform the Organization on measures taken in this
respect.
Annex Guidelines for fast rescue boats
1 General requirements
1.1 Except as provided by these guidelines, all fast
rescue boats should comply with the requirements of regulations 41.1 to 41.6.7
inclusive, 41.6.9 to 41.6.12 inclusive, 41.7.3, 41.7.6, 41.7.7 and 41.9 of chapter
III of SOLAS 1974, as amended.
1.2 Fast
rescue boats may be either of rigid, inflated or rigid/inflated construction and
should:
.1 be of a length adequate for their intended use;
.2 be capable of carrying at least five seated persons
and a person lying down.
1.3 Fast rescue
boats which are a combination of rigid and inflated construction should comply with
the appropriate requirements of these guidelines to the satisfaction of the
Administration.
1.4 A fast rescue boat
should be self-righting or capable of being readily righted by its crew.
1.5 Unless the fast rescue boat has
adequate sheer, it should be provided with a bow cover extending for not less than
15% of its length, and be self-bailing or capable of being rapidly cleared of water.
1.6 Fast rescue boats should be capable
of manoeuvring, for at least 4 hours, at a speed of at least 20 knots in calm water
with a suitably qualified crew of at least 3 persons and at least 8 knots with a
full complement of persons and equipment.
1.7 Fast rescue boats should have sufficient mobility and manoeuvrability
in a seaway to enable persons to be retrieved from the water, marshal liferafts and
tow the largest liferaft carried on the ship when loaded with its full complement of
persons and equipment or its equivalent at a speed of at least 2 knots.
1.8 A fast rescue boat should be fitted
with an inboard engine or engines or an outboard motor or motors commensurate with
its speed, size and displacement. It should be steered by a wheel which is remote
from the rudder, water jet or jets and outboard motor or motors and an approved form
of emergency steering should be fitted. Notwithstanding the requirements of SOLAS
regulation III/41.6.1, petrol driven outboard motors with approved fuel systems may
be fitted in fast rescue boats, but special precautions should be taken to protect
the fuel tanks from the effects of an explosion.
1.9 Each engine or motor in a fast rescue boat should stop automatically
or be stopped by the helmsman's emergency release switch should the boat capsize.
When the boat has righted, each engine or motor should be capable of being
restarted, provided the helmsman's emergency release, if fitted, has been reset.
1.10 The fuel and lubricating oil systems
should be so designed as to prevent the loss of more than 250.of fuel or lubricating
oil from the propulsion system should the boat capsize.
1.11 Arrangements for towing should be permanently fitted in
fast rescue boats and should be sufficiently strong to marshal or tow liferafts, as
required by paragraph 1.7 above.
1.12
Fast rescue boats should be fitted with weathertight stowage for small items of
equipment.
1.13 If the fast rescue boat
is stowed on a ship, a disengaging gear complying with the requirements of SOLAS
regulation III/41.7.6 or its equivalent should be fitted.
2 Fast rescue boats 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 10m 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 II/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.
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 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.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.
4 Training
Training by a duly authorized agency should be given to all
helmsmen and crew of fast rescue boats in all aspects of rescue, handling,
manoeuvring and driving these craft in various conditions and situations and in
righting after capsize.