Marine Safety Equipment

Marine Safety Equipment groups the life-saving appliances a vessel carries to protect its crew and passengers in an emergency at sea. The class covers the lifeboat and the life raft, the two main craft used to abandon ship and keep survivors afloat and together until rescue, and the personal flotation device, the individual life jacket or vest that keeps one person afloat regardless of the craft available. The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) sets the international minimum standard for this equipment, requiring life boats, rescue boats and life jackets according to a ship's type under its Chapter III life-saving appliances and arrangements; this invention class gathers the three core pieces of shipboard life-saving equipment that chapter regulates.