New regulations drive higher standards for lifeboat service

Based on industry experience and consolidating existing standards, the new IMO resolution MSC 402 (96) and related regulations provide mandatory higher-quality standardization for companies performing maintenance services throughout the maritime industry.

The new resolution is an improvement from the previous guidelines because it sets clearer criteria for both safety equipment services and service suppliers. This way, it will help the maritime industry move away from a subjective manufacturer approval process toward proven competences of service providers. This helps ensure that equipment is properly maintained and safe to operate. The entire maritime industry uses life-saving equipment and no matter what type of stakeholder you are, everyone has to comply with the new standards. This also means everyone will be positively affected. There will be steeper requirements for those conducting safety equipment servicing and operators will feel the positive impact of these resolutions, since servicing companies will have to be more quality and compliance focused than ever.

Your safety experts

VIKING is not only a service provider but also a manufacturer of boats and davits, so we have the experience and knowledge required to meet the new regulations and the needs of our customers. We ensure the safe operation of their life-saving equipment in all conditions. That’s always the approach we take as a company - to ensure everything operates correctly and safely.

When it comes to compliance... think competence

Since the new regulations emphasize the competence of the service provider rather than the OEM approval, it has become more important for providers to prove and document how they keep service teams up to date. Inevitably, there will be a filtering of companies who can provide lifeboat servicing since only those that invest in proper training will be able to stay on par in an industry with evolving safety standards. That’s why VIKING has proactively invested in our VIKING Safety Academy to ensure our people are not only aware of any new requirements but also competent and capable to meet them.

And when it comes to competence...

The VIKING Safety Academy has the same certification as maritime universities and produces the same level of competences. Every VIKING service technician has documented training and experience performing service on lifeboats and launching appliances. This competence documentation and certification is easily and digitally accessible for each individual technician, meaning that customers will always know that the VIKING technician performing service is both cleared and capable of handling the task.