Safety Alert Technical No 28

Life Saving Appliances

Please click here to download a printable version of Technical Safety Alert No 28 (Adobe 20.0 KB)

Please click here to download a printable version of Product Awareness Notice 1252 (Adobe 980KB)

It has been brought to the attention of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) that Free-Fall Hook type FFH13 failed to operate during a normal hook release test. This incident occurred on board a Norwegian oil rig. The manufacturer of the product, Umoe Schat-Harding AS, has released a “Product Awareness Notice”.

While this failure happened on an oil rig we have been advised that 47 free-fall lifeboats are fitted with FFH13 hooks and at this juncture only 25 have been rectified.  The MCA are very concerned about this matter and therefore we strongly recommend that owners who have a lifeboat fitted with Free-Fall Hook type FFH13 manufactured by Umoe Schat-Harding AS and others who may own, sell or service these lifeboats carefully follow the instructions provided in the attached Notice.

The Notified Body which approved this product is currently conducting an investigation into this product and we will inform you when this matter is satisfactorily resolved.