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Lifeboat AcademyCourse 3

Flag, Class and Port State Control

How surveys, class approval, flag rules and port state inspections shape lifeboat work on a managed fleet.

6 lessons · about 90 minutes · Superintendents, DPAs and ship managers

A large motor yacht moored at a marina
From our annual rescue boat and davit inspection in Fiji, September 2026.

About

Lifeboat work is never only a technical job. Every annual and five-yearly service has to fit a survey window, be done by a firm the flag accepts, be witnessed when the flag says so, and leave paperwork that a class surveyor or a port state officer will read later.

This course follows that chain from the office side. It starts with how the safety equipment surveys and certificates work, then explains how class societies approve service firms and how to check a firm’s papers. It compares what ten major flags require, looks at what port state control officers find, and ends with planning and buying service across a fleet.

Flag rules change often. Each lesson gives the notice number and the date we checked it, so you can open the current version before you plan the work.

Lessons

  1. 01 Surveys and certificates: where lifeboat work fits How the annual lifeboat examination lines up with the safety equipment survey window, and why the five-yearly work has no window at all. Free · 12 min
  2. 02 Class and approved service firms How flags and class societies approve lifeboat service firms for each make and type, and how to check a firm's papers before it starts work. Free · 14 min
  3. 03 Flag rules compared: ten registries side by side Which flags approve lifeboat service firms themselves, which accept class approval, and which want a surveyor at the five-yearly test. Sign up free · 16 min
  4. 04 Port State Control and your lifeboats What port State inspectors look at around the lifeboats, what the Tokyo MOU figures show, and how to be ready. Sign up free · 13 min
  5. 05 Planning lifeboat service for a fleet How to line up crew checks, drills, annual and five-yearly service and falls renewal with survey windows and port calls. Sign up free · 14 min
  6. 06 Buying lifeboat service well What a good quote, scope and service report contain, how to check a provider's papers, and the red flags to watch for. Sign up free · 13 min

Final quiz

15 questions from across the course. Pass with 12.

Take it as many times as you like; each try draws a fresh mix of questions. When you pass, we congratulate you. We don't issue certificates.

Sign up free to continue

Free awareness training. Lifeboat Inspections is not authorised to issue training certificates, so none is given, and this course is not a qualification. It doesn't replace STCW survival craft training, manufacturer training or MSC.402(96) technician certification. The manufacturer's manual and your flag's rules always come first.