Ocean Safety have a dedicated network of approved service stations around the world, all of whom must adhere to our strict policies of servicing, which follows on from their in-depth training.
Users who ignore the use of approved service stations are quite literally putting their lives in their own hands. Some users believe they can circumvent the process to cut corners and ‘save money’, ‘do a better job themselves’, or simply believe that there is no need to use a trained service station. This mentality has led to some horrendous examples of what not to do and which are, quite simply, life threatening.
One of the worst case studies we have witnessed was a liferaft serviced by an unapproved service station. It was returned to our Southampton service team for its next service where we found the liferaft container packed with two perfectly bubble wrapped ‘breeze blocks’ from a building site – there was no liferaft at all!
Another example was recently witnessed in Sydney, Australia, during which a Jon Buoy Mk5 Recovery Module that had been serviced by an unapproved service station who evidently had no regard for the life-saving nature of the product, and conducted the following errors:
- The cylinder has been replaced by an oversized cylinder, which didn’t fit in the pocket. The pocket had been subsequently altered to accommodate the increased size, utilising a cobweb of string to hold together.
- The oversized cylinder would have resulted in the carcass bursting due to the excess gas in the cylinder.
- The firing head has been completely ‘bodged’ together using a liferaft operating head in conjunction with the original firing head which would not have deployed the Jon Buoy Recovery Module when used.
- When the firing line was pulled in the direction it needed to be pulled it was not possible to activate.
Result – This Jon Buoy Recovery Module would not have worked – our thanks to M.O.S.S in Sydney (one of our most experienced overseas service stations) for spotting this and explaining the issues to the customer. Consequently, the Recovery Module was condemned. We can only be thankful that it was never needed to rescue a crew member or loved one.
All manufacturers of marine lifesaving equipment specify servicing of their products by approved service stations not just because it is good practice but because, in some cases, it is a legal requirement. Owners, operators or skippers who don’t follow the instructions put people’s lives at risk.