Life Rafts Merchant Shipping

1.1. SOLAS and LSA

According to international conventions, a cargo ship's equipment with life-saving appliances must meet certain safety requirements. This is the case, for example, under the 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).


This agreement was negotiated by the London-based IMO (International Maritime Organization), whose current 167 member states continually adapt the SOLAS regulations. These adjustments are generally made by the IMO's technical committee, the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC).
Chapter III of the SOLAS Convention deals with life-saving appliances and arrangements, i.e., all life-saving appliances and the requirements placed on them. Based on this Chapter III, the Maritime Safety Committee adopted the LSA Code (Life-Saving Appliance Code) in June 1996 through Directive MSC.48(66) to establish international standards for life-saving appliances required by SOLAS Chapter III. This directive entered into force on July 1, 1998.

The LSA Code was amended and supplemented by Directive MSC.218(82), which entered into force on January 1, 2008. This clarified some rules regarding the safety requirements for life-saving equipment.

With Directive A.689(17), the IMO adopted the recommendations on manufacturing tests for life-saving appliances at the end of 1991. In 1998, the IMO Maritime Safety Committee recognized the need to introduce more precise requirements for manufacturing tests for life-saving appliances and, as a result, adopted Directive MSC.81(70), which effectively replaces Directive A.689(17).

An explanation of the contents of the various IMO and MSC guidelines can be found on the Internet at www.imo.org (under “Safety”).

1.2. EU Marine Equipment Directive (MED/Steering Wheel)

In addition, the European Union endeavored to eliminate differences in the implementation of international standards in the EU member states by establishing common rules for the equipment of cargo ships with life-saving appliances. With this goal in mind, in 1996 the EU adopted Council Directive 96/98/EC (EU Marine Directive or MED for short), which came into force on January 1, 1999, for cargo ships flying an EU flag. According to this directive, manufacturers of life-saving equipment must undergo a conformity assessment in order to obtain the conformity mark (steering wheel), which is required for the installation of this equipment on board ships of EU member states and ships that have agreed to the MED approval procedure. Since the entry into force of this directive, every life-saving appliance subject to approval on board a cargo ship flying the flag of an EU member state must therefore bear the so-called steering wheel as a conformity mark. The Directive does not apply to equipment already fitted on a vessel at the time of its entry into force. However, if a piece of equipment is replaced or is newly fitted, the Directive still applies. The Annex to this Directive contains the life-saving appliances that require approval under this Directive. It lists, among other categories, the following:

  • A.1/1.12 Inflatable liferafts

  • A.1/1.13 Rigid liferafts

  • A.1/1.14 Automatic self-righting liferafts

  • A.1/1.15 Reversible liferafts with canopy

  • A.1/1.16 Floatation devices for liferafts (hydrostatic release devices)

  • A.1/1.24 Launching appliances for liferafts

  • A.1/1.27 Ship evacuation systems

From the date of entry into force of the Directive, newly manufactured equipment must comply with the international agreements listed in this annex. A list of all products subject to approval and approved in this area, as well as their manufacturers, is available online at www.mared.org after prior registration.

1.3. MER (Merchant Equipment Regulation/Red Ensign)

Following Brexit, any product approved under the EU Marine Equipment Directive (MED) (commonly referred to as a ship wheel approval) manufactured after 1 January 2023 must also be approved under the new UK Marine Equipment Regulations (MER, 2016), known as Red Ensign approval, and the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) guidelines.

This is being examined by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which in turn has commissioned DNV UK Ltd. to carry out the approval.

1.4. Useful links on this topic