Survitec’s Seahaven, the world’s largest inflatable lifeboat, has completed the International Maritime Organization (IMO) A.520 physical tests as required by classification society Lloyd’s Register and is set to launch to the cruise ship world, according to a press release.
The 1,060-capacity inflatable lifeboat solution for cruise vessels successfully completed the stringent tests, including ship sinking scenarios and a timed evacuation, which was achieved in less than 22 minutes. the company said.
Under International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) rules, evacuation should not exceed 30 minutes.
The A.520 tests follow the December 2021 success of Heavy Weather Sea Trials (HWST), carried out in line with SOLAS requirements for Novel Appliances. The rigorous trials saw Seahaven deployed from EDT Jane, an 80m offshore support vessel, with representatives from Class and observers from UK MCA in attendance.
“In keeping with our long-standing and over-arching commitment to safety, Survitec has continuously delivered innovative Survival Technology that meet the needs of cruise ships not just for today but well into the future. Our multi-faceted testing programme exceeds the SOLAS statutory requirements and proves Seahaven is reliable and more importantly safer than current evacuation arrangements,” said Claude Sada, Managing Director Survitec Survival Craft.
Richard McCormick, Survitec Product Manager AES and MES, describes Seahaven as “providing a totally different outlook on evacuation at sea”.
“With Seahaven, we have taken all the safety features, testing and type approval processes associated with lifeboats and MES to solve the challenge of being able to evacuate growing numbers of passengers quickly, safely and comfortably,” McCormick said.
Seahaven launches with the push of a button and automatically inflates, taking just four minutes to deploy. The slide-based Survival Technology solution has improved passenger evacuation time without compromising on safety. Once deployed, the inflatable lifeboat can travel independently for 24 hours at a speed of six knots, the company said, in a press release.
