[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 46, Volume 4]

[Revised as of October 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 46CFR108.557]



[Page 150]

 

                            TITLE 46_SHIPPING



                  (This book contains parts 90 to 139)

 

   CHAPTER I--COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED)

 

PART 108_DESIGN AND EQUIPMENT--Table of Contents

 

                     Subpart E_Lifesaving Equipment

 

Sec.  108.557  Free-fall lifeboat launching and recovery arrangements.



    (a) The launching appliance for a free-fall lifeboat must be 

designed and installed so that the launching appliance and the lifeboat 

it serves operate as a system to protect the occupants from harmful 

acceleration forces and to effectively clear the unit.

    (b) The launching appliance must be designed and arranged so that in 

its ready to launch position, the distance from the lowest point on the 

lifeboat it serves to the water surface with the unit in its lightest 

seagoing condition does not exceed the lifeboat's certificated free-fall 

height.

    (c) The launching appliance must be arranged so as to preclude 

accidental release of the lifeboat in its unattended stowed position. If 

the means provided to secure the lifeboat cannot be released from inside 

the lifeboat, the means to secure the lifeboat must be arranged as to 

preclude boarding the lifeboat without first releasing it.

    (d) Each free-fall launching arrangement must be provided with a 

secondary means to launch the lifeboat by falls. Such means must comply 

with the requirements of Sec. Sec.  108.550, 108.553, and 108.555. 

Notwithstanding Sec.  108.550(e), the launching appliance must be 

capable of launching the lifeboat against unfavorable conditions of list 

of 5 degrees in any direction and it need not comply with the speed 

requirements of Sec. Sec.  108.553 (g), (h), and (i).

    If the secondary launching appliance is not dependent on gravity, 

stored mechanical power or other manual means, the launching arrangement 

must be connected both to the unit's main and emergency power supplies.