Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act 1932

REGULATION XL Life-Jackets and Life-Buoys.

1 A life-jacket shall satisfy the following requirements:—

(a) It shall be constructed with proper workmanship and materials;

(b) It shall be capable of supporting in fresh water for 24 hours 7.5 kilogrammes of iron (equivalent to 16 ½ pounds);

(c) It shall be reversible.

Life-jackets the buoyancy of which depends on air compartments are prohibited.

2 A lifebuoy shall satisfy the following requirements :—

(a) It shall be of solid cork or any other equivalent material;

(b) It shall be capable of supporting in fresh water for 24 hours at least 14-6 kilogrammes (equivalent to 32 pounds) of iron.

Life-buoys filled with rushes, cork shavings or granulated cork, or any other loose granulated material, or whose buoyancy depends upon air compartments which require to be inflated, are prohibited.

3 The minimum number of life-buoys with which ships are to be provided is fixed by the following table :—

Length of the Ship. Metres.	Equivalent in Feet.	Minimum Number of Buoys.
Under 61	Under 200	8
61 and under 122	200 and under 400	12
122 and under 183	400 and under 600	18
183 and under 244	600 and under 800	24
244 and over	800 and over	30

4 All the buoys shall be fitted with beckets securely seized. At least one buoy on each side shall be fitted with a life-line of at least 27-6 metres (15 fathoms) in length. Not less than one-half of the total number of life-buoys, and in no case less than six, shall be provided with efficient self-igniting fights which cannot be extinguished in water, and these shall be kept near the buoys to which they belong, with the necessary means of attachment.

5 All the fife-buoys and life-jackets shall be so placed as to be readily accessible to the persons on board; their position shall be plainly indicated so as to be known to the persons concerned.

The life-buoys shall always be capable of being rapidly cast loose and shall not be permanently secured in any way.