Flack over repacks

Boat/US Magazine, March, 2002 by Elaine Dickinson

A spate of problems at several liferaft servicing businesses in the past few years has prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to ask whether extensive new regulations are needed and whether such regulations should be aimed not at the servicing facilities, but at boat owners.

Since buying or using a life- raft on a recreational boat is entirely voluntary, the proposed rules may have some skippers crying "mayday." Currently, there are no federal requirements for boaters to have voluntary equipment inspected.

However, the prospect of a liferaft failing to inflate in an emergency in the middle of the ocean is alarming enough for at least one manufacturer to support additional regulations, even if it ends up hurting sales.

J. J. Marie, president of Zodiac of North America which manufactures inflatable boats and liferafts, has been following the repack complaints and related problems as a member of the Coast Guard's National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC). Discussions at the council's meetings have led to the Coast Guard's request for public comments published in November.

A good quality liferaft usually costs about $2,000 up to $6,000, and periodical inspection is important because they must have good, properly installed C02 cylinders to inflate them, and because they contain dated supplies such as food, water, flares, first aid kits and lights with batteries. Currently, only a repack facility that services Coast Guard-approved liferafts has to be inspected by the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard is asking the recreational boating public whether owners of liferafts should be required to have them serviced on a regular basis, according to the manufacturer's schedule, which also keeps the product under warranty. Marie said fewer than 10% of owners get their liferafts serviced when they are supposed to.

Manufacturers of liferafts do not provide the servicing but they do certify the repack facilities as authorized to service their products. Owners should only go to a facility certified to handle their brand of liferaft. For example, Marie said all 50 certified Zodiac repack facilities in the U.S. are also Coast Guard-approved.

Some see a downside to requiring regular servicing -- it's expensive ($250$400 per repack) -- and it could discourage boaters from buying a new liferaft or using an existing one, for fear of being in violation.

"Is it a disincentive to buy them?" Marie asked. "I'd say it's better than counting on a liferaft when it won't work." New regulations would raise public awareness, he added.

Other options would be to require the Coast Guard to inspect all repacking facilities, since they're already inspecting those handling liferafts for commercial vessels, or require all mariners cruising a certain distance offshore (12 or 24 miles, for example) to carry a liferaft, such as is done in Europe. In the U.S., sanctioned offshore races not only require racers to carry liferafts but to have them serviced within one year of the event.

While the question of requiring inspections is still being debated, Boat U.S. and Zodiac both agree on having liferafts listed as "associated equipment" for recreational boats and setting Coast Guard standards for what is a recreational life- raft.

By designating liferafts as associated equipment," they would then be subject to a Coast Guard recall if a defect was discovered. Right now the Coast Guard has no such authority over recreational liferafts.

"This is an oversight that should be rectified as soon as possible," said BoatU.S. Chairman Richard Schwartz, who was instrumental in getting defect recall authority written into federal law in the 1970s.

With no set standards, there are a host of products called "liferafts" but only those built for use on commercial ships have any standards. These must be "Coast Guard approved" and meet construction and performance specifications. "What really aggravates me is that there are no standards for what a liferaft is," Marie said.

The horror stories that led to the proposed rules were several incidents in Rhode Island and Connecticut by repack facilities no longer in business. Customers who later opened their serviced canisters found their liferafts replaced by older models and one owner found the canister filled with old sails. A Coast Guard investigation of one company in Newport, RI, found 19 liferafts inadequately serviced. Of them, 16 had missing equipment, five had defective carbon dioxide cylinders, and 17 contained items that had expired.

These incidents led the Coast Guard to seek criminal prosecution, which was not pursued, but the agency did issue public safety alerts about the companies involved.

The deadline for public comment on liferafts is March 11. Boaters may go to the Dept. of Transportation Web site and file electronically at http://dms.dot.gov, and request docket No. USCG-2001-10530; or fax comments to 202-493-2251; or write to Docket Management Facility, U.S. DOT, Rm. PL-401, 400 7th St. SW, Washington, DC, 20590-0001.