Life-saving appliances are surveyed on a defined cycle under SOLAS and the LSA Code, and a lapsed certificate is one of the most common reasons vessels are held during port-state control. This article summarises the main servicing intervals and how to keep them under control while calling at Colombo and Sri Lanka’s other commercial ports.
The equipment covered
LSA servicing applies to lifeboats and rescue boats, davits and launching appliances, inflatable and rigid liferafts, marine evacuation systems, lifebuoys and lifejackets, immersion and anti-exposure suits, and pyrotechnic and line-throwing equipment. ARCSHIP delivers life-saving appliance servicing across all of these categories.
Typical servicing intervals
- Weekly and monthly: crew checks and routine inspection of survival craft, davits and equipment.
- Annual: thorough examination and function testing of lifeboats, rescue boats, launching appliances and on-load release gear; servicing of inflatable liferafts and lifejackets at an approved station.
- Five-yearly: load testing of davits, winches and survival craft, and overload testing of launching appliances.
- As required: re-certification of pyrotechnics before expiry and replacement of time-expired equipment.
Exact intervals depend on equipment type, maker requirements and flag-state rules, so the vessel’s specific schedule should always be confirmed against its certificates.
The safest schedule is the one mapped against the vessel’s trading pattern, not the one remembered at the gangway.
Staying ahead of the due-dates
Because LSA servicing combines short-interval crew checks with annual and five-yearly professional attendances, the practical challenge is scheduling the professional work into a convenient port call. Mapping every due-date against the vessel’s itinerary, and combining LSA work with fire-fighting appliance servicing in a single attendance, keeps the vessel inspection-ready without unplanned deviations.
What a Sri Lankan attendance looks like
At Colombo, Galle, Hambantota or Trincomalee, an ARCSHIP LSA attendance typically includes inspection and function testing of survival craft and launching gear, servicing and re-packing of liferafts and lifejackets, load testing where due, and issue of the relevant test certificates and a service report.