Life Jackets / Lifebuoys
Life Jackets
Life Jackets is a group of 12 IMPA-coded items (codes 330131–330150) under Life Jackets / Lifebuoys in the Safety Equipment section (IMPA 33). All of them are priced per piece.
Buying guide
This group covers the inherently buoyant (foam) SOLAS lifejackets a ship carries for everyone on board, supplied with a whistle in adult, child and infant sizes, each under a named approval (MED, USCG, UK, Hong Kong). Inflatable lifejackets and lifejacket lights have their own groups. Lifejackets are stowed in cabins, at muster stations and at manned watch stations, and are worn in drills and when abandoning ship.
Requisitions are usually raised by the chief officer as the officer responsible for life-saving appliances, typically when the survey or a drill turns up damaged or expired items, when crew or passenger numbers change, or when the ship changes trade and needs more child-size jackets.
How to specify it
State the size class (adult, child, infant) and give the quantity per size separately, because a supplier quoting "lifejackets" will price adults only. The IMPA codes in this group differ by size and by approval, so the code alone fixes both; if you write a description instead, state both.
Name the approval the flag requires: the MED wheel mark for EU-flagged ships, USCG approval for US-flagged ships. Order lifejacket lights in the same requisition (they are a separate group) and ask for the retro-reflective tape to be on the jacket as delivered, so that items arrive ready for stowage.[3][2]
If the ship already carries a particular make, quote the make and model so replacements match the donning instructions crews have been drilled on; otherwise ask for equivalent approved items and the approval certificate with the quotation.
Rules and certificates
SOLAS chapter III sets the carriage requirements and the LSA Code gives the technical specification for personal life-saving appliances, including lifejackets and lifejacket lights. The Code was adopted by resolution MSC.48(66) and has been amended since; check the edition the flag applies.[1]
As adopted in MSC.48(66), each lifejacket light must be white, give at least 0.75 cd in all directions of the upper hemisphere and have an energy source for at least 8 h; a flashing light must flash 50 to 70 times a minute and have a manual switch.[1]
US rules (46 CFR 199.70) require a lifejacket for each person on board, child lifejackets equal to at least 10 % of passengers, extra lifejackets for persons on watch stowed on the bridge, engine control room and other manned watch stations, and on every lifejacket an approved light on the front shoulder area, a whistle on a cord and Type I retro-reflective material.[2]
For EU-flagged ships lifejackets fall under the Marine Equipment Directive as item MED/1.4, and lifejacket position-indicating lights as MED/1.2c; the manufacturer shows conformity by the wheel mark and a Declaration of Conformity.[3]
Questions buyers ask
- Do lifejackets for the watch count towards the one-per-person total?
- No. Under 46 CFR 199.70 the jackets for persons on watch are carried in addition and stowed at the bridge, engine control room and other manned watch stations, so they are ordered as a separate line.
- Is the lifejacket light a separate item?
- Yes, in the IMPA guide lifejacket lights are a separate group. An approved light is still part of a compliant lifejacket, so order lights with the jackets.
- Does an EU wheel-marked lifejacket satisfy a US-flag ship?
- Not by itself. A US-flag ship needs jackets approved under the USCG approval series named in 46 CFR 199.70. Some models carry both approvals; ask for both certificates if the ship needs both.
Sources
Published by Sherif Awad, founder of GeoMarineHub — in ship supply since 1990, a family business since 1981 (45 years). Last checked .
At a glance
Part of Safety Equipment (IMPA section 33): Life-saving and fire-fighting equipment — extinguishers, breathing apparatus, lifejackets, detectors, pyrotechnics.
It is one of 4 groups under Life Jackets / Lifebuoys; the others include Life Jackets Inflatable, Life Jackets Lights, Lifebuoys.
Post the ones you need as a requirement and verified suppliers activated at your port bid on them — sealed, so nobody sees another bid.
- Items
- 12
- IMPA codes
- 330131–330150
- Priced
- per piece
Items
Also under Life Jackets / Lifebuoys
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