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NavalLaunching the rescue boat
A person is in the water, the ring life buoy is out and the lookout has them in sight. You prepare and launch the rescue boat, maneuver it to pick the person up and bring it back on board ready for the next time. Launching survival craft and recovering rescue boats is one of the contingencies every crew drills each month, and on inspected vessels the rescue boat goes into the water with its crew aboard.
Free to startScenarios
- The monthly drill, run on board as if it were a real emergency.
- A person overboard, with the lookout keeping them in sight.
- A launching drill on an inspected vessel making headway, in sheltered waters.
The steps
- Before leaving port, see that the rescue boat and its lifesaving equipment are in good working order, ready for immediate use and readily accessible.
- When the alarm is given, go to your station and prepare the rescue boat for launching.
- Board, launch and clear the rescue boat from the vessel.
- Maneuver the rescue boat to pick up the person in the water.
- Bring the person aboard the rescue boat.
- Recover the rescue boat, then stow and secure it.
- Bring the equipment used back to fully operational condition and remedy any fault or defect found as soon as possible.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Launching drills with the vessel making headway are practiced only in sheltered waters, under the supervision of an officer experienced in such drills.
To pass
- Rescue boat launched, maneuvered to the person and recovered, stowed and secured.
- Every person on board drilled and instructed each month on launching survival craft and recovering lifeboats and rescue boats, as if it were real.
- On inspected vessels, the rescue boat is launched with its assigned crew aboard and maneuvered in the water each month as far as reasonable and practicable, and at least once every 3 months.
- On inspected vessels, the line-throwing appliance is drilled at least once every 3 months; actually firing it is up to the master.
Official source
U.S. Coast Guard · 46 CFR 28.265, 28.270 and 199.180
46 CFR Part 28: Requirements for Commercial Fishing Industry Vessels (28.265 Emergency instructions, 28.270 Instruction, drills, and safety orientation)
The eCFR publishes 46 CFR Part 28 free: the emergency instructions every commercial fishing vessel posts, its lifesaving equipment and the monthly drills.
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