An offshore operator in Abu Dhabi needed its lifeboat and rescue boat davits examined, load tested and certified, with new fall wires fitted. We tested six lifeboat davits rated 170 kN and 200 kN and one rescue boat davit, renewed the falls on all seven, and went back to the same operator later in 2024 for further davit and lifeboat tests.
The problem
Lifeboat davits on offshore units work in salt air and strong sun and are used rarely, so brakes, gearboxes and falls deteriorate between tests without anyone noticing. The operator needed the launching appliances proven under load and documented, and the fall wires renewed.
What we found
Every davit and winch was examined before any load went on:
- External examination of the davit structure, arms, sheaves and foundations
- Internal examination of the winch brake chambers, brake plates and gearbox
- Fall wires: due for renewal on all six lifeboat davits and the rescue boat davit
Examining the brakes internally first matters. Brake plates contaminated with oil or grease are a common reason davits fail the dynamic brake test.
What we did
- Removed the old fall wires and installed new falls on the six lifeboat davits and the rescue boat davit.
- Carried out performance tests on each lifeboat davit: lowering and recovery.
- Load tested each davit at 100% of SWL.
- Ran dynamic brake performance tests at 110% of SWL, about 19 t on the 170 kN davits and 22 t on the 200 kN davits.
- Ran static brake performance tests at 150% of SWL, about 26 t and 31 t respectively.
- Load tested and certified the rescue boat davit.
- Issued test reports and certificates for each appliance.
Result
All seven davits were examined, tested and returned to service with new falls and current certificates. The operator used the same scope again for further davit tests in mid-2024. In October 2024 we also tested lifeboats of 100 and 150 persons for the operator, including on-load and off-load release tests at 110% of SWL and waterborne manoeuvring, alongside a provision crane load test.
