Canada extends service period for inflatable survival equipment

Transport Canada has published a ship safety bulletin about the extension of the service period for inflatable survival equipment.

The bulletin was published on December 7th, 2022, and replaces Ship Safety Bulletin No. 13/2022.

This bulletin applies to all vessels that carry inflatable survival equipment, including inflatable life rafts, that benefit from the extended servicing interval of two years (24 months) in the Life Saving Equipment Regulations (LSER), and incorporated in the Fishing Vessel Safety Regulations and the Small Vessel Regulations.  

This bulletin explains how to use the 24 month service period for inflatable survival equipment listed in Schedule IV of the LSER.

It is also a reminder that a Type Approval Certificate is required to use the 30 month servicing interval option in the LSER.

Inflatable survival equipment needs to be serviced every year. This helps ensure proper deployment in all operating conditions and that it is maintained to reduce risks due to the impact of environmental conditions (i.e., humidity, temperature variation, freeze-thaw cycles).

Schedule IV of the LSER lists servicing intervals for inflatable survival equipment.

It has been amended to specify that to qualify for the 24 month extended servicing period, when the vessel operates less than seven months per year, it must operate only during months in which the monthly historical average daily minimum air temperature is greater than 0°C according to the climate data, compiled by Environment and Climate Change Canada, from the Canadian Climate Normals station closest to the vessel’s area of operation.

This regulatory amendment is in force as of 22 December 2022; six months following final publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II.

Authorized representatives of vessels using the 24 month service interval are reminded to:

• complete an Extension Record for Inflatable Survival Equipment Servicing Form (85-0418) or another record that contains equivalent information,
• submit the completed form to the nearest Transport Canada Marine Safety and Security Service Centre,  
• keep a copy on board the vessel, to show it when asked by a Marine Safety Inspector during an inspection to demonstrate compliance with the LSER, and
• confirm that the safety equipment (e.g., pyrotechnic distress signals*, seasickness medicine, etc.) in the inflatable survival equipment does not expire before the next scheduled servicing.  

*Section 123 of the LSER requires that every pyrotechnic distress signal carried on a vessel be disposed of after four years of manufacture at the most.

The 30 month servicing period listed in subsection 2(1.2) of Schedule IV of the LSER is only available if the inflatable survival equipment has a Type Approval Certificate (as required by section 121 of Part III of the LSER)  that lists a maximum servicing period of 30 months.

RELEVANT DOCUMENT (AVAILABLE ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS):

Extending the Service Period for Inflatable Survival Equipment