LSA maintenance is regulated by SOLAS Chapter III and the LSA Code. Regularity is everything.
Weekly
- Visual inspection of survival craft, launching appliances, and release gear.
- Boat engines run ahead and astern (out of the water, where permitted).
- General alarm test.
Monthly
- Full inspection with the checklist: equipment inventory, pyrotechnics expiry, rations, water.
- Liferafts and EPIRBs: verify service dates and hydrostatic release units.
- Record everything in the LSA log; entries are examined at every PSC inspection.
Watch for
- Expired pyrotechnics — the most common PSC finding.
- Release gear maintenance at the annual service by authorized personnel only.
- Crew familiarity: a lifeboat that only the bosun can launch is a lifeboat that will not be launched.