Rescue boats may be either of rigid or inflated construction or a combination of both and shall:
- Rescue boats shall have sufficient mobility and manoeuvrability in a seaway to enable persons to be retrieved from the water, marshal liferafts and tow the largest liferaft carried on the ship when loaded with its full complement of persons and equipment or its equivalent at a speed of at least 2 knots.
- Rescue boats shall be capable of manoeuvring at a speed of at least 6 knots and maintaining that speed for a period of at least 4 hours.
- persons and a person lying on a stretcher.
- be not less than 3.8 m and not more than 8.5m in length; and be capable of carrying at least five seated
- A rescue boat shall be fitted with an inboard engine or out board motor. If it is fitted with an outboard motor, the rudder and tiller may form part of the engine.
- Arrangements for towing shall be permanently fitted in rescue boats and shall be sufficiently strong to marshal or tow liferafts.
- Inflated rescue boats shall be so constructed as to be capable of withstanding exposure:
- When stowed on an open deck on a ship at sea for 30 days afloat in all sea conditions.
- The buoyancy of an inflated rescue boat shall be provided by either a single tube subdivided into at least five separate compartments of approximately equal volume or two separate tubes neither exceeding 60% of the total volume.
- In addition to complying with the requirements lifeboats, inflated rescue boats shall be marked with a serial number, the maker’s name or trade mark and the date of manufacture.
The inflated rescue boat shall be maintained at all times in a fully inflated condition.
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