LSA Weekly and Monthly Routines

The lifeboat that fails you will not fail during the drill. It will fail when you need it.

Why Routine Matters More Than You Think

Most mariners understand that LSA inspections are a SOLAS requirement. Fewer appreciate that the routine itself is where the equipment is actually maintained. The drill is a rehearsal. The weekly and monthly checks are the work. If you are treating them as a tick-box exercise to satisfy the SMS and keep the PSC inspector off your back, you are managing paperwork rather than managing risk.

The equipment on your survival craft list was designed and certificated to function after years of inactivity followed by a single high-stress deployment. That is an extraordinary demand. The only way it meets that demand is if someone has been paying attention throughout. That someone is you, and the register is your record of having done so.

This piece walks through what a proper routine looks like, what you are actually looking for when you walk the deck, and what tends to go wrong when nobody is looking closely enough.

The LSA Register

Before you touch any equipment, understand what the register is telling you. Your LSA register is not just a list of gear. Used properly, it is a maintenance history, a defect log, an expiry tracker, and evidence of due diligence in a single document. It should contain, for each item of LSA:

• Description, location, and serial or batch identification
• Date of last service or survey

Function certificate or approval reference where applicable

• Next service or replacement due date
• Space for inspection findings and any defects raised

Some vessels run this digitally through the CMMS; others use hard-copy logs. Either works, but both must be current. An entry that reads "checked – ok" with no name and no date is worthless to a PSC inspector and equally worthless to the next person picking up the register. Every entry should carry the date, the name of the person conducting the check, and enough detail to show that eyes actually went on the equipment.

Cross-reference the register against your pyrotechnic and battery expiry schedule before the start of each voyage or each calendar quarter at minimum. You want to see what is coming due before it becomes an urgent defect.

Weekly Checks

The weekly inspection cycle is lighter in scope but must not be lighter in attention. There are three core elements.

Survival Craft Inspection

Walk the survival craft visually. You are not stripping anything down. You are checking condition, securing arrangements, and accessibility.

• Painter, gripes, and release gear: no chafe, no corrosion on pins, hydrostatic releases seated correctly with the weak link intact
• Embarkation ladder: correctly stowed and not seized in position by paint or rust
• Inventory: check the grab bag or immersion suit stowage is undisturbed
• Hull and canopy: no visible damage, no standing water in open boats
• FRP covers and hatches: clips operating, seals not compressed flat

Pay particular attention to any moving part that is exposed to weather. Paint is the enemy of every hinge, clip, and release mechanism on deck. A fresh coat of deck paint applied without masking tape over the lifeboat release hook or davit pivot bearing is a defect, not maintenance. Work with your bosun to ensure painters know what must not be painted over.

Onboard Communications Test

Test the two-way radiotelephone communications used for survival craft. This typically means VHF handheld sets designated for LSA purposes. Check battery charge status, confirm the set powers up, and conduct a short transmission test. Log the result. If the vessel carries GMDSS equipment within the weekly check scope, verify battery backup in accordance with your SMS – this varies by flag state and vessel type, so know your own requirement.

Also confirm SART and EPIRB stowage and external condition as part of this check. You are not opening them. You are confirming they are where they should be, the housing is undamaged, and the EPIRB ready-light or self-test indicator reads correctly. More on EPIRB housings under monthly checks.

General Emergency Alarm Test

Operated from the bridge and logged. The test should be long enough to confirm audibility across the vessel, including accommodation spaces and engine room. If any zone fails to sound or the signal is weak in an area that was previously satisfactory, raise it as a defect immediately. The GA system is what gets people to their muster stations. Its failure in an actual emergency is not recoverable.

Monthly Checks

The monthly cycle is where you do the substantive work. Give it the time it needs. A thorough monthly inspection of all LSA on a medium-sized vessel will take the better part of a watch, possibly more. If it is taking you thirty minutes, you are not doing it properly.

Thorough LSA Inspection

This goes beyond the visual survey of the weekly round. You are checking function, not just presence.

• Lifebuoys: condition of buoyancy material, line not rotted or seized, self-igniting lights functional, SART attachment where fitted
• Line-throwing appliances: confirm serviceability, check rocket expiry dates against the register
• Immersion suits and thermal protective aids: inspect for seam integrity, zip function, whistle, light attachment point. Any suit with a failed zip seal or cracked neoprene is a defect, not a borderline case
• Pyrotechnics: count against the register, check dates. Parachute flares, hand flares, and buoyant smoke signals all carry expiry dates. A flare that is out of date must be replaced. It cannot be used as a drill substitute. It must be disposed of through the correct channel and a replacement logged in
• Breathing apparatus and smoke hood sets where carried: confirm charge pressure, mask condition, and stowage location marked

Lifeboat and Rescue Boat Engine Run

Run the engine under load for a minimum of three minutes, or in accordance with the manufacturer’s instruction if longer. This is not a start-and-stop function test. You are listening for irregular running, checking cooling water flow, observing exhaust condition, and confirming the engine will sustain operation. An engine that starts but dies under load has told you something important. Log it.

Check fuel level and condition. Water contamination in diesel fuel stored in a lifeboat is not unusual, particularly in vessels trading in high-humidity environments or where the fuel cap seal has deteriorated. If the fuel looks milky or there is visible sediment, drain and replace before the next check cycle.

Check propeller shaft seal and bilge for any ingress since the last check. Even a small amount of accumulated water wants an explanation.

Launching Appliance Examination

Davits, falls, and associated release gear need direct attention each month. Specifically:

• Wire falls: run the fall through your hands in the section above the drum. You are feeling for broken wires, flattened sections, and kinks. Any broken wire strand found is a ground for immediate survey referral
• Sheaves: rotation without binding, no visible groove wear that would cause the fall to track incorrectly
• Limit switches and overspeed governors: confirm physically present and undamaged
• On-load release gear: confirm the reset pin or safety mechanism is correctly engaged and that the hook shows no deformation at the jaw. This is a critical item. A deformed or worn on-load release hook must not go back into service
• Grease nipples and pivot points: grease as required. If a bearing is turning rough, grease will not fix it, but it will tell you something is wrong

What Actually Fails

Pattern recognition matters here. Across vessels and trade routes, the same categories of defect appear in LSA inspections. If you know what to look for, you find it before it becomes a crisis.

Batteries. EPIRB internal batteries, SART batteries, and handheld VHF batteries all have finite shelf lives independent of use. A battery that reads full charge on a domestic tester may not sustain transmission load in a survival scenario. Work to replace dates, not to apparent condition. An EPIRB battery that is within six months of its replace-by date is a battery that should be changed on the next port call, not at the last possible moment.

Pyrotechnics approaching expiry. These accumulate. A vessel that has been trading for two years without a thorough register audit may find a significant percentage of its pyrotechnic outfit is out of date or within the quarter of being so. This is a flag state deficiency and a PSC detention risk. Run your expiry schedule as a standing agenda item, not a surprise discovery.

Corroded fittings. Shackles on lifebuoy pendants, pelican hooks on gripes, and pins in hydrostatic release mechanisms are all susceptible to galvanic corrosion, especially in warm or salt-heavy environments. Light surface rust on a structural shackle is not cosmetic. If the pin is seizing in the bow, the shackle needs replacing.

Paint seizing moving parts. Already mentioned, but worth restating because it is common. Launching appliance pivot points, embarkation ladder brackets, davit trunnion bearings, and on-load release handles are all found seized by paint on vessels where the maintenance culture has drifted. If you cannot manually operate a release mechanism through its full range of motion with one hand, it is not serviceable.

Water ingress into EPIRB housings. The float-free EPIRB mounted in its bracket on the monkey island or bridge wing is exposed to weather continuously. Some designs are more susceptible than others to water tracking through the housing seam. During the monthly check, remove the unit from its bracket and inspect the housing seam, the hydrostatic release connection, and the indicator light area. Any visible moisture or fogging inside the lens is a defect. Do not wait for the unit to fail a self-test before acting on this.

The Checklist Structure

Your SMS checklist should be a prompt, not a script. A well-structured LSA checklist breaks into weekly and monthly columns, lists each item by location rather than by category (so you are walking a logical route around the vessel rather than jumping back and forth), and includes a column for remarks that is long enough to actually write something. A checklist that gives you a three-millimetre-wide remarks column is telling you something about the culture that produced it.

Where your SMS checklist does not adequately cover a specific item, supplement it with your own running notes in the register. The goal is that six months from now, or after a crew change, someone picking up that register can reconstruct what was found on every inspection and what action was taken.

Documentation as Evidence

PSC inspectors are experienced at distinguishing between a register that has been completed and a register that documents actual work. A column of identical entries with no variation across six months, signed by the same officer, is a warning sign. Real inspections produce real findings, even minor ones. They produce remarks about grease applied, or a flare expiry noted and scheduled for replacement, or a battery charge low and set recharged. The absence of any such entries across an extended period is itself a red flag.

Beyond PSC, consider that the register is your protection if an incident occurs. If a piece of LSA fails during an emergency and the subsequent investigation asks whether it was being maintained, your register is your answer. Make it an honest one.

In Practice

• Build the weekly check into a fixed point in the weekly routine – same day, same sequence around the deck. Consistency catches drift.
• Keep a running pyrotechnic and battery expiry summary separate from the main register, updated each month. It takes five minutes to produce and saves you from an unexpected deficiency notice.
• Never pass a seized moving part without acting on it the same day. Log it, free it, or raise a defect – but do not leave it for the next watch.
• If the engine run produces any anomaly, even a minor one, log the detail precisely. "Ran satisfactorily" tells nobody anything. "Started first attempt, ran 4 minutes, slight water seepage at shaft seal, quantity negligible, to be monitored next check" is a useful entry.
• After any drill that involves launching equipment, repeat the relevant portion of the monthly check before the equipment is returned to standby. Drills reveal wear that routine does not always catch.
• Sign your entries. Own your inspections.