Dennis, on my surveys I say for a life raft “if the life raft is to be onboard and could be relied upon in an emergency then it must have current certification” this gives the boat onwner the option to remove it from the boat or get it certified. That covers things for most insurance companies. However most people end up keeping the life raft onboard even if they don’t get it certified assuming that it might work if needed.
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Re: Safety Certifications & Registrations - Required by law or just good to have?
Mahalo V
1974 53 Motoryacht
Hull Number 406
San Diego, Ca. Ready 32 Nordic Tug, Brunswick Ga.
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Re: Safety Certifications & Registrations - Required by law or just good to have?
Sky Cheney
1985 53EDMY, Hull #CN759, "Rebecca"
ELYC on White Lake--Montague, MI
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02-15-2018 11:26 AM #13Senior Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2005
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Re: Safety Certifications & Registrations - Required by law or just good to have?
Follow up on all this.
EPIRB - Replacement battery is $299. good for 5 years/ EPIRB is 14 years old and a new unit from West Marine can be had for under $500. Should I replace battery or toss the whole thing and get a new EPIRB?
Life Raft - Also 14 years old. Inspect & recert is around $1000. For around $2000 I can get a new 'mid-grade' 6 person raft. Thoughts?
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Re: Safety Certifications & Registrations - Required by law or just good to have?
Aircraft have a MEL, minimum equipment list, and everything on that list has to work. Other items on the aircraft can be tagged inop, or fixed.. Boats are not the same. As Sky's link pointed out, USCG has minimum safety equipment lists that you have to comply with, and your Survey for Insurance purposes normally has a list of squawks that must be repaired for the insurance to be in force... And prudence dictates a lot of equipment should work if you might need to rely on it... But not "required".. one area you might need to address is the tank certification on your fire suppression system. I can't point to the reg at this second, but I believe it calls for 10 year recerts.. had mine done, both of them, couple of years back for a few hundred bucks.
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Re: Safety Certifications & Registrations - Required by law or just good to have?
The question of recertification of fixed CO2 systems was recently discussed in another post. In researching the the issue on my own, I found it difficult to get a definitive answer. I submitted the question to a friend who forwarded the below.
From: Mxxxxx, Brian K CIV
Sent: Thursday, February 8, 2018 1:28 PM
To: Dxxxxxxx, Mxxxxxxxx C CDR <xxxxx@uscg.mil>
Subject: RE: [Non-DoD Source] FW: A question for Mxxx
Good Afternoon CDR,
In accordance with 46 CFR 25.30-15, all fixed fire extinguishing systems installed on recreational vessels must be Coast Guard Approved. In order to maintain Coast Guard Approval, fixed firefighting systems must be inspected annually by a qualified servicing organization.
vr,
Brian
--
Brian Mxxxx, CG Sector Mobile
Marine Inspector Training Officer
The general consensus of the earlier thread was 5-10 years. I thought it would be useful to pass this along. Insurance requirements may be different, but I suspect they would default to the reg's if they had to pay.Semper Siesta
Robert Clarkson
ASLAN, 1983 55C #343
Charleston, SC
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Re: Safety Certifications & Registrations - Required by law or just good to have?
I'd replace the battery in the epirb. The raft is a tougher one...the material ages and eventually may not hold air. If the new one had similar equipment it may be time. Oldest raft I ve had inspected was about 13 years. The cost of the certification is mostly about replacing the emergency stuff. Batteries, rations, water.Pascal
Miami, FL
1970 53 MY #325 Cummins 6CTAs
2014 26' gaff rigged sloop
2007 Sandbarhopper 13
12' Westphal Cat boat
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Re: Safety Certifications & Registrations - Required by law or just good to have?
46 CR 142.240 says fixed systems must comply with NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) which in sec 1-9.5.1 calls for a maximum of 12 years between hydro testing.
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Re: Safety Certifications & Registrations - Required by law or just good to have?
Hydro testing is one thing. Annual inspections, meaning inspection, weighing and recharging if required, etc., are another.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/46/142.240 is the text.
It is truly a lawyer's dream. Keeping the point of the thread in mind, you have to ask yourself a question: If I had a fire on my boat and the CO2 system failed or failed to completely extinguish the fire, what regulation would my insurance company cite to reduce or eliminate their liability? I'm just guessing here, but I'm thinking they'll want to see that invoice for the annual inspection.Semper Siesta
Robert Clarkson
ASLAN, 1983 55C #343
Charleston, SC
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Re: Safety Certifications & Registrations - Required by law or just good to have?
If the fire doesn't get extinguished and the boat burns out, chances are the tags and the records went up in smoke!
Pascal
Miami, FL
1970 53 MY #325 Cummins 6CTAs
2014 26' gaff rigged sloop
2007 Sandbarhopper 13
12' Westphal Cat boat
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02-15-2018 04:20 PM #20Senior Member
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- Jun 2007
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