How Is a Liferaft Built – and Why Is Every Detail There?

How is a liferaft built – and why is every detail there? Before a new liferaft design is allowed on board a ship, it has to survive an 18-metre drop into the sea and still inflate and work. In this video we take an inflatable liferaft apart, piece by piece: the container, the buoyancy tubes, the self-erecting canopy, the lights, the ballast pockets, the entrances and the floor. Every one of these details is a requirement of SOLAS and the IMO Life-Saving Appliances (LSA) Code – and many of those rules exist because of one night in 1912. At the end: the approval tests every life raft has to pass, and why your liferaft must be serviced every year. In this video: • Why does a liferaft container have to float? • How fast must a liferaft inflate – and why does it always land the right way up? • What happens if one of the tubes is torn? • Why are liferafts orange? • What keeps a light raft from flipping over in a storm? • How many people can a liferaft really carry? • What does Titanic have to do with it? • Which tests must a new liferaft survive before it's allowed on a ship? Based on SOLAS Chapter III, the IMO LSA Code (Chapter IV – survival craft) and the IMO recommendation on testing of life-saving appliances. For general education – on board, always follow your ship's SMS, the manufacturer's manual and your officers' instructions. #liferaft #SOLAS #maritimesafety