LSA part 3: Carriage requirements for pyrotechnics and line throwing appliances
The third in a series of articles covering life saving appliances
Relevant documents: SOLAS Chapter III, LSA code Chapter III, MSN 1676 Schedule 7, MIN 687
Questions on LSA carriage requirements and performance standards for LSA are common at OOW level. These really are the basics; fortunately they are easy to remember and to learn, and knowing some key details from the performance standards goes a long way to show that you know what you’re talking about.
First off, some general requirements for pyrotechnics:
Be contained in a water-resistant casing
Have brief instructions or diagrams clearly illustrating the use printed on the casing
Have internal means of ignition
If designed to be held, or launched by hand, not cause discomfort to the person holding the casing
Can, if hand operated, be operated from the bottom (safe end), or has a safety delay of 2 seconds
Be clearly marked with a manufacture date and expiry date
Storage
On passenger vessels a magazine should be provided for storage of pyrotechnics. On all other vessels a safe and dry place is sufficient. Generally rocket parachute flares and hand flares are kept in waterproof plastic containers fitted with a screw lid.
Disposal
All pyrotechnics should be disposed of and replaced if any doubt exists about their condition, or if they exceed four years from their date of manufacture.
It is not acceptable to simply fire expired or expiring pyrotechnics off at sea, not even under the guise of training. The firing of distress signals in any situation other than distress is an offence (and prohibited under COLREGs Annex IV, part 2). Approved disposal services must be used. If asked about this in an exam, a good answer is that you’d speak to your agent about arranging to have expiring/expired pyrotechnics safety disposed of.
Rocket parachute flares
These must, when fired vertically, reach an altitude of not less than 300m. At the top of this trajectory, they eject a parachute flare which shall:
Burn with a bright red colour for not less than 40 seconds
Have a rate of descent of not more than 5m/s
Hand flares
These are designed to be activated and held aloft. They must:
Burn with a bright red colour
Burn for not less than 1 minute
Continue to burn after being immersed for 10 seconds under 100mm of water
Buoyant smoke signals
These must:
Emit smoke of a highly visible colour (generally orange or red) for not less than 3 minutes
Not emit any flame
Continue to emit smoke after being submerged for 10 seconds under 100mm of water
Line throwing appliances
There are two types of line throwing appliance (also referred to as line throwing devices and line throwing apparatus; we’ll use all three terms interchangably in this article) commonly used; single use, self-contained units and multiple-use units with a replaceable charge. Whichever option the vessel has, they must:
Be capable of throwing a line with reasonable accuracy
Be marked with a manufacture date
Have brief instructions or diagrams clearly illustrating the use of the appliance
Include not less than four projectiles, capable of carrying the line at least 230m in calm weather
Include not less than four lines, each having a breaking strain of not less than 2kN*
*2kN is the equivalent of about 200kg; this line is to be used to send a stronger messenger line, which is in turn to be used to send towing lines/wires
When firing a line throwing apparatus across the wind, you should aim downwind of the target. This is counterintuitive, but the line will catch the wind and turn the rocket back towards the target.
It’s worth mentioning that while most line throwing appliances used on ships are rocket-based, there do exist pneumatic (operated by air or gas under pressure) systems. These are rarely seen onboard as pyrotechnic options are usually cheaper, however they are often used on ships carrying out certain specialised operations that may involve multiple attempts to send a line.
Carriage requirements
There are seperate carriage requirements for a lifeboat, a liferaft and a vessel. So, to the question ‘what pyrotechnics do you carry on your ship’ start with those kept on the bridge, then talk about those on the lifeboats (these are all subject to regualar checks, covered in another article) and then talk about those packed away with the liferafts.
Lifeboats
Two buoyant smoke signals
Four rocket parachute flares
Six hand flares
This is easy to remember; ‘multiples of two, sea to sky to hand.’
Liferafts
You won’t be inflating the liferaft to check its contents, so don’t worry too much about this bit. Liferafts have two levels of equipment: SOLAS A pack and SOLAS B pack. A pack is for passenger vessels and cargo vessels on long international voyages, B pack is for cargo vessels on domestic and short international voyages. It will say on the label on your liferaft valise which pack your liferaft contains. If the examiner asks you about these, mention that liferafts are sent for servicing every 12 months and that the pyrotechnics would be checked for expiry dates and replaced at that time.
SOLAS A pack includes:
Two buoyant smoke signals
Four parachute flares
Four hand flares
SOLAS B pack includes:
One buoyant smoke signal
Two parachute flares
Two hand flares
It’s easy to remember that the B pack has twice the quantities of the A pack.
Vessel (either cargo or passenger)
Not less than twelve parachute flares, carried on or near the navigation bridge
Either four self-contained line throwing devices, or one apparatus with four charges
MCAQs
What pyrotechnics are required on a vessel?
Describe the markings you’d check on the side of your pyrotechnics.
What pyrotechnics are required in each lifeboat/liferaft?
What are the general requirements for design and manufacture of pyrotechnics?
Explain how your vessel meets the requirement for a line throwing device.
You will be in port in two days. You have a box of hand flares that will expire in two weeks, when your ship will be at sea. What do you do?
Which part of the COLREGs deals with distress signals?
Can you fire pyrotechnics at sea as part of a training exercise?
Where should pyrotechnics be stored on a vessel? Is there any difference between a passenger vessela and a cargo vessel?
How do you know whether your liferafts are A pack or B pack?
What are the performance requirements for:
rocket parachute flares
hand flares
buoyant smoke signals
line throwing apparatus