Instruction manual
PROFICIENCY IN SURVIVAL CRAFT AND RESCUE BOATS OTHER THAN
FAST RESCUE BOATS
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a) General requirements
- be not less than 3.8 meters and not more than 8.5 meters in length;
and
- be capable of carrying at least 5 seated persons and a person lying
on a stretcher.
Unless a rescue boat has adequate sheer, it must be provided with a bow
cover extending for not less than 15 % of its length.
A rescue boat must be capable of maneuvering at a speed of 6 knots and
maintaining that speed for a period of at least 4 hours.
A rescue boat must have sufficient mobility and maneuverability in a
seaway to enable persons to be retrieved from the water, marshal life-rafts and
tow the largest life raft carried on a ship when loaded with its full complement of
persons and equipment or its equivalent at a speed of at least 2 knots.
A rescue boat must be fitted with an inboard engine or outboard motor. If it
is fitted with an outboard motor, the rudder and tiller may form part of the engine.
Arrangements for towing must be permanently fitted in a rescue boat and
must be sufficiently strong to marshal or tow life-rafts.
Unless expressly provided otherwise, a rescue boat must be provided with
effective means of bailing or be automatically self-bailing.
A rescue boat must be fitted with weather-tight stowage for small items of
equipment.
b) Rescue boat equipment
All items of rescue boat equipment, with the exception of boat-hooks which
must be kept free for fending off purposes, must 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 must be secured in such a manner as not to interfere with
any launching or recovery procedures. All items of rescue boat equipment must
be as small and of as little mass as possible and must be packed in suitable and
compact form.
The normal equipment of a rescue boat must consist of:
(a) a sufficient number of buoyant oars or paddles to make headway in calm
seas. Pins, crutches or equivalent arrangements must be provided for each oar.
Pins or crutches must be attached to the boat by lanyards or chains;
(b) a buoyant bailer;
(c) a binnacle containing an efficient compass which is luminous or provided with
suitable means of illumination;










