A coastal raft can be new, homologated and however not ready. Just a poorly calculated revision, a locked container, a lower capacity to people or a treated dingagement as an equivalent without having all the requirements. The technical checklist must then follow a strict order: product identification, applicable discipline, capacity, packaging, installation, documents, deadlines and proof of access.
For navigation within twelve miles the updated Annex V requires the coastal raft for all people on board. The technical decree of 2009 establishes characteristics and intervals of revision: first to thirty-six months, then every twenty-four. The equivalents introduced in the updated framework are real, but conditioned. This guide is used to verify the system without opening the package or improvising maintenance.
1. Open the contract with route, people and units
The initial card records maximum distance from the coast, type of unit, marking, number of people expected and deck configuration. The voice “in 12 miles” must be connected to the farthest point of the route. If the customer asks for a valid equipment beyond that limit, the technician does not propose a coastal raft as a universal solution.
There is also available space, passages, height of the gavones, presence of external saddles, drainages, structural points and neighboring loads. The relief takes pictures of the position before any modification. A correct installation arises from real data and not from an approximate measurement of the container only.
2. Check capacity and identification without opening the package
The container must report readable data and corresponding to the documentation. The manufacturer, model, serial number, capacity, naming within twelve miles, date of manufacture and reference of the revision. The capacity must cover all persons on board provided for that navigation.
The vacuum bag does not open for informal visual control. If the seal is damaged, the data does not coincide or the enclosure has bumps, infiltrations or deformations, the raft is classified “not ready” and sent to the competent center. The checklist always separates external inspection and internal audit.
3. Check the specific marking of the coastal version
The model must be recognizable as an open raft for navigation within twelve miles. The trade name alone does not prove suitability. The technician compares the label, certificate, approval and manual, verifying that the configuration was not reconstructed with a container belonging to another model.
The rafts recognized by administrations of the European Union or the European Economic Area may be allowed when they guarantee an equivalent level of protection according to the conditions laid down. This equivalence is not presumed by foreign marking alone: it must be documented for the product and concrete use.
4. Packaging: vacuum bag and container are a system
The raft with the equipment must be enclosed in a bag that allows the vacuum and inserted in a suitable container. External checklist controls integrity, closures, deformations, abrasions, heat signs, contamination and readability. No strips, screws, or foreign sealers that can prevent opening.
If the container is in the suitcase, try the extraction from the rack. If it is rigid and mounted on the saddle, it occurs that straps and liberation are in accordance with the instructions. Support protects during navigation but must allow release at the time provided. Protection and accessibility are tested together.
5. Technical elements to be found in documents
| Voice | Requisite of the coastal model | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Stabilization | At least two symmetrical pockets; total not less than 80 liters | Approved sheet |
| Viability | Highly visible upper tube | Specifications and photo review |
| Retro-reflective | Minimum total area | Technical data |
| Insulated fund | Not required in coastal configuration | Identified model |
| Tent | Not required | Identified model |
| Interior/external lights | Not required | Identified model |
The technician does not open the raft to check these characteristics between one revision and the other. Check that the approved documents describe the present model and that the audit report predicts the intervention. Any inconsistencies are resolved before closing the contract.
6. Emergency Kit Inventory
The coastal configuration includes bellows, fixed-blade floating knife connected to straw, tin torch with separate batteries in stagna, sassola, repair kit, two paddles, two sponges, whistle and water in quantity of 0.250 liters per person. Internal verification belongs to the authorized revision.
At the return, the technician checks that the report indicates skills and interventions performed. It is not enough to receive a closed container. If the customer uses a survival kit for an admitted equivalence, that kit has its own inventory and documentation and is not confused with the sealed raft kit.
7. Calculate revision without shortcuts
The first revision of the coastal raft is expected to thirty-six months; the next every twenty-four. Maintenance software records relevant manufacturing date or commissioning, last revision, next deadline and associated document. The date is not moved because the boat remained on the ground or sailed little.
You set a notice that allows you to disembark, carry, review and reinstall the vehicle before the scheduled exit. If the container undergoes an abnormal event, the ordinary expiration is not a pass. The checklist opens an extraordinary evaluation and keeps the equipment out of service until the outcome.
8. Inspect the location
The compartment must be dry, accessible and free from fuel, solvents, unprotected batteries, edges, obstructed discharges and heavy loads. The suitcase is not compressed under seasonal equipment. The lid must open with the set boat, not only during the storage when the gavones are empty.
The test is performed with fenders, tenders, luggage and equipment in real positions. They time opening, taking and transfer to the vare point without triggering the medium. If you need hidden keys or need to move too many objects, the location is redesigned.
9. Test saddles, straps and liberation
An external saddle is fixed on a structure capable of supporting dynamic mass and loads. Mounting respects the orientation and compatibility of the container, avoids stagnations and does not create interference with passages, rudder, tientibene or openings. The straps hold the vehicle in navigation but follow the expected release procedure.
The technician controls corrosion, locks, edges, game and access. It does not replace components with generic solutions without checking its suitability. Every change is photographed and reported in the minutes. Dry testing shows that at least two people can release and move the container in the normal configuration.
10. Check weight, transport and handling
The weight of the raft, container and support must be known. The scope of the structure occurs and the effect on the construction is assessed, especially on small units or with aft installation. The landing path for the revision must be practicable without damaging furniture, cables or the container itself.
Checklist indicates number of operators, outlet points and equipment allowed. Drag the suitcase, lift it from unforeseen parts or drop it can compromise the system. Delivery to the review center includes identification and protection during transportation.
11. Tender equivalent: compile a separate verification
The service pneumatic boat can take the function provided within twelve miles only if it is marked CE, conforms to the standards recalled, ready to use, hand-operated, able to accommodate all people, equipped with a lift device and the expected survival kit. The checklist shows each line with evidence.
A bent dinghy, installed on a hand-operated crane, without lift or sufficient capacity does not exceed control. You perform a test without jeopardizing people or boat, recording times and obstacles. The equivalence is reviewed after each change of tender, motor, crane or disposition.
12. Pneumatic units: do not apply exemptions by custom
For some pneumatic units, including rigid hulls, the updated framework provides specific category, standard and survival kit conditions. The technician acquires the documentation of the unit and checks the complete correspondence. The shape of the tubular is not enough to demonstrate the right to exemption.
If a document is missing or the model does not fit for sure, the outcome remains open. No regulatory requirement is replaced with a trade statement. The minutes indicate the source of the verification and the date, because updates or modifications of the unit can change the required configuration.
13. Operating test with crew and vests
The final test does not inflate the raft. Simulate access, liberation, handling and reading of instructions with worn and covered vests. Roles are assigned and the person responsible can perform operations without crossing dangerous zones or dissolving unforeseen fixations.
The briefing clarifies that the raft is used according to instructions and command of the manager. It shows where documents, communication apparatuses and complementary equipment are, without creating a list that delays the emergency. At least one second member of the crew must know position and procedure.
14. Diagnosis of the most common anomalies
Recurring non-compliances are expired revision, unreadable label, insufficient capacity, deformed container, locked suitcase, corroded support, improvised belt, unmatched documents and false equivalence with the tender. Each anomaly receives status, responsibility, action and closing date.
The item is closed only when the component is restored, reinstalled and verified. An accepted quote or a raft on the way to the centre does not match an equipment available on board. Before departure the final control compares digital inventory and physical presence.
15. Delivery minutes: what must contain
The minutes report units, shipowner, planned navigation, persons, manufacturer, model, freshman, capacity, position, type of container, relevant weight, last and next revision, attached documents, result of the support, evidence of access and any equivalences. The photographs show label, location and free route.
You deliver model instructions and register the briefing. The technician does not certify activities that he did not perform and does not invent missing data: he uses “not available” and opens an action. This transparency protects the owner and installer and makes the control repeatable to the next season.
16. Final checklist before declaring it ready
The raft is only ready when navigation, capacity, identification, approval, packaging, revision, location, support and access are all compliant. If you use a dinghy or special condition for pneumatic units, separate verification must be complete. No critical line can be closed “on sight”.
The technical method is simple but strict: detect, document, install, try and program maintenance. Avoid both the false safety of the container never checked and the invasive intervention out of procedure. When the checklist coincides with the item on board, the equipment is really available for scheduled navigation.