Types of Lifeboat Release Mechanisms & SOLAS Requirements for Lifeboats

Free-fall lifeboat A lifeboat constructed for free-fall launching. The certificate of approval for a free-fall lifeboat shall state free-fall certification height, required launching ramp length, and launching ramp angle for the free-fall certification height. The free-fall lifeboat concept first came to light in 1897 when Swedish designer A.E. Falk patented a blueprint of an enclosed lifeboat capable of sliding off a ship stern. Thirty years later, the Bay and River Navigation Company’ s Capt W