NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

No. 190

5350

prescribed for the purposes of the Shipping (Lifesaving Appliances) Regulations 1989

Schedule

Performance Standard for Launching Appliances and Embarkation Ladders

Part I

General

1. Launching Appliances—General Requirements— (1) Each survival craft and rescue boat launching appliance, together with all its launching and recovery gear, shall be so arranged that the fully equipped survival craft or rescue boat it serves can be safely lowered at a list of up to 20° either way and against a trim of up to 10°:

(a) after being boarded by its full complement of persons at the stowed position or from an embarkation deck, as appropriate;

(b) without persons in the survival craft or rescue boat.

(2) Notwithstanding the requirements of clause 1(1) lifeboat launching appliances for oil tankers, chemical tankers and gas carriers with a final angle of heel greater than 20°, but not greater than 30°, calculated in accordance with:

(a) Regulation 29(3)(c) of the United Kingdom Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Oil Pollution) Regulations 1983;

(b) Paragraph 2.9.2.2 of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk;

(c) Paragraph 2.9.1.2 of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk;

as applicable, shall be capable of operating at the final angle of heel on the lower side of the ship.

(3) Davits, winches, falls, blocks and all other launching gear shall comply with the requirements of Parts II, III or IV of this performance standard.

(4) On ships which regularly trade to Antarctica or North of the Arctic Circle or to sea areas where ice or icing-up conditions can be expected, each launching appliance shall, as far as practicable, remain effective under conditions of icing.

2. Launching Appliances Using Falls and a Winch— (1) An efficient hand gear shall be provided for recovery of each survival craft and rescue boat.

(2) Where davit arms are recovered by power, safety devices shall be fitted which will automatically cut off the power before the davit arms reach the stops in order to avoid overstressing the falls or davits, unless the motor is designed to prevent such overstressing.

(3) A lifeboat launching appliance shall be capable of recovering and stowing the lifeboat with its launching crew.

(4) Every rescue boat launching appliance shall be fitted with a powered winch motor of such capacity that the rescue boat, or lifeboat if it has been accepted as a rescue boat, can be raised from the water with its full rescue boat complement of persons and equipment to a position where the persons can be safely disembarked.

(5) Every rescue boat launching appliance shall be capable of hoisting the rescue boat, or lifeboat in rescue boat mode, when loaded with its full rescue boat complement of persons and equipment at a rate of not less than 0.3 metre per second.

(6) Except in the case where a rescue boat is fitted with single point suspension, every rescue boat carried in compliance with the Shipping (Lifesaving Appliances) Regulations 1989 shall be provided with means for facilitating the attachment of the lower fall blocks to the lifting arrangements of the boat when the boat is recovered from the sea in adverse weather conditions. For this purpose a recovery strop of adequate strength and suitable length shall be provided for each davit, and 1 end of the strop shall be attached to the lower fall block and the other end to the lifting arrangement on the boat. In addition means shall be provided for hanging off the boat after hoisting to enable the lower fall block to be attached directly to the lifting hook.

(7) Every survival craft and rescue boat launching appliance shall be fitted with brakes, or equivalent devices, capable of stopping the descent of the survival craft or rescue boat and holding it securely when loaded with its full complement of persons and equipment; brake pads shall, where necessary, be protected from water and oil.

(8) Manual brakes shall be so arranged that the brake is always applied unless the operator, or a mechanism actuated by the operator, holds the brake control in the “OFF” position.

3. Float-Free Launching— (1) Where a survival craft requires a launching appliance and is also designed to float free, the float-free release of the survival craft from its stowed position shall be automatic.

4. Free-Fall Launching— (1) Every free-fall launching appliance using an inclined plane shall, in addition to complying with the applicable requirements of clause 1 of this Part also comply with the following requirements:

(a) The launching appliance shall be so arranged that excessive forces are not experienced by the occupants of the survival craft during launching.

(b) The launching appliance shall be a rigid structure with a ramp angle and length sufficient to ensure that the survival craft effectively clears the ship.

(c) The launching appliance shall be efficiently protected against corrosion and be so constructed as to prevent incidence friction or impact sparking during the launching of the survival craft.

5. Evacuation-Slide Launching and Embarkation— (1) Every evacuation-slide launching appliance shall, in addition to complying with the applicable requirements of clause 1 of this Part also comply with the requirements of the Performance Standard for Marine Escape Systems.

6. Instructions and Information— (1) Instructions and information required for inclusion in the training manual specified in Part I of the Performance Standard for Training Manual and Maintenance Instructions and in the instructions for on-board maintenance specified in Part II of the Performance Standard for Training Manual and Maintenance Instructions shall be in a form suitable for inclusion in such training manual and instructions for on-board maintenance.

Instructions and information shall be in English in a clear and concise form and shall include the following:

(a) description of launching appliance and winch, where provided;

(b) operation for launching and recovery; and

(c) maintenance.

Part II

Lifeboat and Rescue Boat Launching Appliances

7. Definition of “Working Load”— (1) In this Part the expression “Working Load” means:

(a) in relation to davits to which clauses 8(1) and 8(2) of this Part apply, the sum of the weight of the lifeboat, its full equipment, the blocks and falls, and the maximum number of persons which the lifeboat is deemed fit to carry, the weight of each person being taken to be 75kg;

(b) in relation to winches the maximum pull exerted by the fall or falls at the winch drum during lowering, hoisting or stowing which in any case is to be taken as not less than the working load on the davit or davits divided by the velocity ratio of the lowering tackle.