Here in this article, we will go through SOLAS requirement for LSA
- Lifebuoy
- Lifejacket
- Immersion Suit
- TPA
- Pyrotechnics
- Liferaft
- Lifeboats
- Rescue boat
- LTA
- EEBD
- General Alarms
LIFEBUOY
- Outer diameter not more than 800mm.
- Inner diameter not less than 400mm.
- Constructed of inherently buoyant material.
- Marked with Ships name and port of registry.
- Support 14.5 kg of iron in FW for 24 hours.
- Min mass 2.5kg.
- Resistant to flame up to 2 sec.
- Able to sustain a drop of 30m or the height of stowage, whichever is greater.
- Fitted with a grab line 9.5mm in diameter and 4 times the outer dia in length.
- Readily available on both sides of the ship
- 1 in the vicinity of the stern
- At least 1 on each side with a buoyant lifeline with a length not less than twice the distance from the stowage position to waterline in the lightest seagoing cond or 30m, whichever is greater.
- At least 50% of lifebuoy to be fitted with self-igniting light.
- 2 buoy with light to have smokes and be able to be released from bridge.
LIFEBUOY WITH SELF-IGNITING LIGHTS
- Cannot be extinguished by water.
- White color.
- Burn continuously for at least 2 hours.
- The intensity of 2 cd
- 50-70 Flashes per minute
- Able to withstand the drop test
LIFEBUOY WITH SMOKE SIGNAL
- Emit smoke of highly visible colour at uniform rate for 15min when floating in calm water.
- Not ignite, Explode or emit any flame during the smoke period.
- Continue to emit smoke when fully submerged for at least 10 sec.
ON CARGO VESSEL
| Length of vessel in meters | Minimum number of lifebuoys |
| Up to 100 | 8 |
| 100 and less than 150 | 10 |
| 150 and less than 200 | 12 |
| 200 and more | 14 |
ON PASSENGER VESSEL
| Length of vessel in meters | Minimum number of lifebuoys |
| Up to 60 | 8 |
| 60 and less than 120 | 12 |
| 120 and less than 180 | 18 |
| 180 and less than 240 | 24 |
| 240 and Above | 30 |
LIFE JACKET
- Provided for every person on board.
- In addition child life jacket – 10% of the passenger onboard or one for each child, whichever is greater.
- Buoyancy not to be reduced by 5% after 24 hours of immersion in FW.
- Fitted with a whistle firmly secured by a cord.
- A sufficient number to be kept in the manned station like ECR, BRIDGE.
- Should not interfere with entry into any survival craft or in sitting.
- All lifejackets should be fitted with a light.
- 75% of the adult who is completely unfamiliar with it can don within a period of 1 min without guidance or assistance.
- After the demonstration, everyone can don within 1 min
- Capable to be worn in 1 way only
- Allows the wearer to jump at least 4.5m into the water without injury, damage or dislodging the lifejacket.
- Sufficient buoyancy and stability in FW to lift the mouth at least 120mm from the water with the body inclined backward by at least 20 deg from the vertical. The time period to bring the body in this position is max 5 sec.
- Allows the person to swim and board a boat.
- Child lifejacket should be marked with a child symbol.
- Child lifejacket should be marked with the height and weight range for which the jacket is designed.
LIFEJACKET LIGHT
- Luminous intensity min 0.75cd
- Capable to light for 8 hours
- white color
- Manual switch
- Flash rate 50-70 per min
INFLATABLE LIFEJACKET
- Min 2 separate compartments for inflation.
- Inflate automatically upon immersion.
- Provision to inflate by a single manual motion.
IMMERSION SUIT
- 1 for every crew.
- Constructed with waterproof material.
- Unpacked and donned without assistance within 2 min along with life jacket etc.
- Resist burning or melting for 2 sec.
- It covers the entire body except for the face.
- Arrangements to minimize or reduce the free air in legs.
- No ingress of water after a jump of at least 4.5m.
- Shall permit the wearer to climb up and down a vertical ladder of min 5m.
- Normal duties for abandonment.
- Can swim and board a boat.
- Buoyant immersion suit to be fitted with a lifejacket-type light. (if self buoyant – It must have all features of life jacket.)
Thermal requirement
If the suit does not have insulation, then it should be marked accordingly.
- When worn with warm clothing, Body temperature does not fall more than 2 deg on an immersion of 1 hour in calm circulating water of 5 deg.
- When warm clothing is not required, the body temp not to fall more than 2 deg on an immersion of 6 hours in calm circulating water of 0 to 2 Deg.
TPA (THERMAL PROTECTIVE AID)
- Made of waterproof material.
- Max thermal conductivity of 7800w/m2k.
- Reduces conductive and evaporative heat loss.
- Covers the whole body along with the life jacket with exception of the face.
- Unpacked and donned easily without assistance in a survival craft.
- Can be removed within 2 min.
- Can function in -30°C to +20°C.
- Every survival craft should have 2 thermal protective aid suits or 10% of its total carrying capacity whichever is greater
PYROTECHNICS
- 12 Rocket parachute is present on the bridge.
- 6 Hand Flare, 4 Rocket parachutes, and 2 Smoke signals are present in the lifeboat and liferaft.
ROCKET PARACHUTE
- Contained in a water-resistant casing.
- Operational instructions are on casing.
- Integral means of ignition.
- When fired vertically, reach an altitude of at least 300m
- At or near the top of the trajectory, eject a parachute.
- Bright red light and 30000cd.
- Burns for a minimum of 40 seconds.
- The maximum descend rate is 5m/s.
HAND FLARES
- Contained in a water-resistant casing.
- Operational instructions are on casing.
- Integral means of ignition.
- Bright red color.
- Min intensity 15,000cd.
- Burning period of minimum 1 min.
- Continue to burn after immersion for 10s under 100mm of water.
BOUYANT SMOKE SIGNALS
- Contained in a water-resistant casing.
- Operational instructions are on casing.
- Integral means of ignition.
- Emit smoke of highly visible color at a uniform rate for 3 min in calm water.
- Shall not emit any flame.
- Continue to emit smoke after immersion for 10s under 100mm of water.