US Coast Guard fishing vessel dockside examiners have reported that they are starting to see an increasing number of inflatable survival craft installed on some fishing vessels that are not Coast Guard-approved.
Non-Coast Guard approved life rafts may pose a danger to commercial fishing vessel operators and their crews during emergencies at sea.
These life rafts are not acceptable for survival craft required to meet US commercial fishing vessel safety regulations. Commercial fishermen may be purchasing these inflatable survival craft thinking they meet the requirements.
“The survival craft we are seeing are less expensive than the Coast Guard-approved versions, often built by the same manufacturers but not to the same standards”, said Mike Rudolph with the Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Program in Portland, Oregon. “The regulations specifically state that all survival craft required aboard commercial fishing vessels be Coast Guard approved.”
The advice from the Coast Guard is when purchasing a survival craft, make sure it is a Coast Guard-approved piece of equipment. The device will have a Coast Guard approval number on it.
