Annual and five-yearly: what each one covers

Every lifeboat system has two big check-ups. The annual one happens every year. A certified technician examines the boat, the release hooks, the davit and the winch, and tests that they work. The winch brake is tested by lowering the empty boat quickly and stopping it hard.

The five-yearly one includes everything in the annual, and adds two heavy jobs. The winch brake is tested with a load 10% heavier than the boat full of people. The release hooks are taken apart, checked for wear and cracks, rebuilt and tested with the same heavy load.

These rules did not appear all at once. They grew over almost thirty years, often after people were hurt during drills and tests. Knowing what each check covers helps you plan the work, read the service report and spot when something has been left out.

Three levels of checking

Lifeboat systems are checked at three levels, and it helps to keep them apart.

A “thorough examination” is more than a look. It means examining each item for “satisfactory condition and operation” (MSC.402(96) §6.2.3), following the manufacturer’s maintenance manual (§6.1.1). An “authorised service provider” is a company that the flag Administration has approved for that make and type of equipment (§2.2.1, §7).

The ship operator can do the annual work itself, but only if it is authorised as a service provider in the same way as an outside firm (§4.2). The five-yearly work is always for certified personnel of the manufacturer or an authorised provider (§4.3).

What the annual examination contains

Section 6.2 of MSC.402(96) is the annual examination. It runs in a set order:

The later lessons of this course take these in turn.

What the five-yearly adds

The five-yearly examination is not a separate checklist. It is the annual examination plus section 6.3 of MSC.402(96):

• Winch: the dynamic brake test is done with a proof load of 1.1 × the boat and its full complement of persons and equipment, instead of the empty boat (§6.3.1).
• Release gear: the hook release units are dismantled, measured against tolerances, checked for defects and cracks, reassembled, adjusted and tested at the same 1.1 × load (§6.3.3).
• Davit-launched liferaft hooks: overhauled and tested at 1.1 × the fully loaded liferaft (SOLAS III/20.11.3.2).

How the proof load is worked out and how the overhaul is done are covered in the five-yearly lesson of this course.

The common mix-up: which load, when

The figure 1.1 appears in both rules, and it is easy to apply it to the wrong test. Remember it this way:

Timing

SOLAS ties the annual work to “the annual surveys required by regulations I/7 or I/8” (III/20.11.1.1). In practice, the annual examination is planned around the ship’s safety equipment survey; survey windows are covered in the flag, class and port state control course.

The five-yearly work has a fixed upper limit. The Bahamas Maritime Authority states plainly: “There are no provisions in SOLAS Chapter III to postpone the 5 yearly service and load test” (BMA Marine Notice 82 §5.5). In exceptional cases it may consider a short postponement of up to three months, applied for through the ship’s recognised organisation (§5.6). Other flags have their own rules, so check your flag’s notice before the due date comes close.

How the rule grew

Regulation III/20.11 has been rewritten several times. Each step added work or tightened a figure.

Use the tool below to move through the years and see what the rule required at each point.

Small words that matter

Compare the wording of the five-yearly winch test. The 2006 and 2008 texts said “at intervals not exceeding five years” (MSC.152(78), MSC.216(82)). The 2020 text says “at intervals of at least once every five years” (MSC.404(96)). Both set five years as the longest gap; neither stops you doing the test sooner.

The 2006 proof load, “1.1 times the maximum working load of the winch”, was based on the winch’s rating. From 1 July 2008 the load has been based on the boat that actually hangs from the davit, with its approved number of persons and its equipment (MSC.216(82)).

Who used to do the work

Until 2020, SOLAS asked only that release gear be examined “by properly trained personnel familiar with the system” (MSC.152(78)). MSC.402(96) replaced that with a full system. Administrations authorise service providers (§3, §7). Providers certify their technicians for each make and type, for three years at a time (§8). The Company sets health, safety and environment procedures for the work (§1.4).

Why the heading changed

Before 2020 the heading of III/20.11 was “Periodic servicing of launching appliances and on-load release gear”. The heading now begins “Maintenance, thorough examination, operational testing, overhaul and repair” and names lifeboats, rescue boats and fast rescue boats first (MSC.404(96)). That reflects the main change of 2020: the boat itself, not only its davit and hooks, is now part of the annual thorough examination.