Liferaft Servicing in the Med

[jcwads]

With a big summer cruise on the cards next year, my liferaft needs servicing to be fully up to date. The main company I have identified based Biot is asking for north of £570 for a 4 man valise unit. That is more than double what the cost is in the UK... For an extra £200 I could just buy a new one... I probably will. Just seeing if anyone with a boat in the South of France has had a better deal?

 

[John100156]

It's even worse where we are in Sant Carles, Spain - I know some bring their LRs back to the UK and have them serviced or sell them and then buy a new one out there. That's what I did the last time. They are expensive to service, but I suppose stating the obvious it would seem good value should you ever need to deploy and use one!

There are some Companies that hire them out. Which is worth investigating, if you only occasionally do long trips offshore and otherwise coastal hop, that's not to say they can save your lives even then.

 

[DAW]

I have an Ocean Safety life raft (8-person ISO Pack 2 <24H) and paid EUR 750 to have it serviced last year. The only authorised dealer I could find in SoF was Quelart in Biot ... probably the same one you are referring to.

My insurance requires the inventory of safety equipment to be complete and for everything to be serviced in accordance with manufacturers guidelines, so it's not a choice. For me servicing was about half the cost of a new replacement.

 

[markc]

I just checked my service from last year - SeaSafe 8 man was 731 euros for the service.

 

[petem]

I have an Ocean Safety life raft (8-person ISO Pack 2 <24H) and paid EUR 750 to have it serviced last year. The only authorised dealer I could find in SoF was Quelart in Biot ... probably the same one you are referring to.

My insurance requires the inventory of safety equipment to be complete and for everything to be serviced in accordance with manufacturers guidelines, so it's not a choice. For me servicing was about half the cost of a new replacement.

Out of curiosity, who is the insurer?

 

[jcwads]

Thanks all. Seems this is fairly typical then. I guess servicing will come off relatively cheaper than buying new every 3 yrs.

 

[mcanderson]

I’ve seen life rafts serviced at JCS Ponel in Beaulieu Sur Mer.

details here Equipement Yachting Alpes-Maritimes, accessoires pour bateau Nice - jcs ponel

 

[jfm]

Same here. The times i have had serviced in France i used Quelart in Biot, and paid the massive prices DAW mentioned. Most times I manage to ship them up to Liverpool and pay about £125/unit with a proper 200% reliable company (Norwest) there. My brother and I have 4 x 8 man Ocean Safety between us, so we get an economy of scale. My next liferaft shipment Antibes/Liverpool/Antibeswill be 2027 so maybe compare notes then .

 

[Portofino]

I just used the local chandlery who always seemed to have dolly’s with LR s on ready for sending out .
Can‘t remember the costs but what’s been said sounds ball park .
Also sent the ERIPB way for “ service “ iirc every 5 yrs .It’s on the Fr kit list it’s certification that is .

I was always when in Fr a bit apprehensive if stopped and kit checked and stuff out of dates .
I think flares have been discussed before but @ the OP seeing as he’s a newbie in the CdA the Fr fine you I understand for having out of date flares .There is in the back of the port publication the official kit list .Some of it feels prehistoric like bailing bucket and signal mirror etc .
But imho over and above any insurance requirements…..it’s was fear of the Fr officialdom getting the wrong side and going through the boat .

Confusion is flag rules .Yes if your are passing through I think you can hide behind your flag states kit requirements+ certification.
But if you base yourself in France effectively permanently in a Fr marina with a contract etc then it flips to Fr kit check + certification rules .Hence check your flares .Thats why the local chandlery sell this stuff .

 

[westernman]

I just used the local chandlery who always seemed to have dolly’s with LR s on ready for sending out .
Can‘t remember the costs but what’s been said sounds ball park .
Also sent the ERIPB way for “ service “ iirc every 5 yrs .It’s on the Fr kit list it’s certification that is .

I was always when in Fr a bit apprehensive if stopped and kit checked and stuff out of dates .
I think flares have been discussed before but @ the OP seeing as he’s a newbie in the CdA the Fr fine you I understand for having out of date flares .There is in the back of the port publication the official kit list .Some of it feels prehistoric like bailing bucket and signal mirror etc .
But imho over and above any insurance requirements…..it’s was fear of the Fr officialdom getting the wrong side and going through the boat .

Confusion is flag rules .Yes if your are passing through I think you can hide behind your flag states kit requirements+ certification.
But if you base yourself in France effectively permanently in a Fr marina with a contract etc then it flips to Fr kit check + certification rules .Hence check your flares .Thats why the local chandlery sell this stuff .

UK flag on my boat.
Never once had a check in the 10 years I kept it in France.

But then I am very good looking and look very law abiding, so no one would dare being awkward.

Except for some English woman who asked for a day charter - I suspect on behalf of the MCA as my MCA coding had recently expired and I had not bothered to renew it. I of course politely declined and said the neither I nor the boat were qualified to take passengers. She seemed very happy with that and promptly left.

 

[DAW]

Out of curiosity, who is the insurer?

The insurer is Pantaenius, organised through their Monaco office.

The general exclusions sections of their policies contain references to the need to fully comply with all licensing requirements and regulations applicable to the operation of the vessel. Before taking out the policy, I raised the point about which regulations apply to a British flagged vessel kept in French waters and got a clear and unambiguous response ... as the vessel is not on "innocent passage" through French waters, it must comply with the regulations of both its flag state (UK/MCA) and France.

French regulations provide that vessels below 24m should carry a life-raft (or life rafts) capable of holding all passengers onboard once they are more than 6 miles from the coast. Below 6 miles there is no requirement, and once you enter international waters the rules of the flag state take over. However, between 6 and 12 miles you need to carry a life raft, which must be in serviceable condition.

In 12 years of boating in the Med, I've had quite a few customs checks but only had safety equipment inspected three times ... once in Italian waters and twice in French. In each case, they checked the expiry dates on life-jackets and the life-raft, so it does happen.

 

[jfm]

The equivalent uk rule is 3miles, so you’re fine to pootle around with an expired life raft on the Villefranche/Antibes/MC/st tropez strip. You only need it serviced in time for a big summer cruise to Corsica or wherever.

 

[petem]

The insurer is Pantaenius, organised through their Monaco office.

The general exclusions sections of their policies contain references to the need to fully comply with all licensing requirements and regulations applicable to the operation of the vessel. Before taking out the policy, I raised the point about which regulations apply to a British flagged vessel kept in French waters and got a clear and unambiguous response ... as the vessel is not on "innocent passage" through French waters, it must comply with the regulations of both its flag state (UK/MCA) and France.

French regulations provide that vessels below 24m should carry a life-raft (or life rafts) capable of holding all passengers onboard once they are more than 6 miles from the coast. Below 6 miles there is no requirement, and once you enter international waters the rules of the flag state take over. However, between 6 and 12 miles you need to carry a life raft, which must be in serviceable condition.

In 12 years of boating in the Med, I've had quite a few customs checks but only had safety equipment inspected three times ... once in Italian waters and twice in French. In each case, they checked the expiry dates on life-jackets and the life-raft, so it does happen.

Thanks!

 

[John100156]

Interesting, I always check the cylinders and condition of all lifejackets before a longish trip, but never their expiry date!

I am out to the boat next week, so will take a look, assume it's written on a label on them somewhere, what's the typical life of a LJ? I reckon some of mine must be 10 years old!

 

[jcwads]

Thanks for all the responses. I will get it serviced by Quelart for ease. Will throw in my life jackets too. Like anything, whilst I will seek a cost effective outcome where I can, there is no price on safety. Next year includes a long trip to Sardinia, so all will be in order..

 

[DAW]

Interesting, I always check the cylinders and condition of all lifejackets before a longish trip, but never their expiry date!

I am out to the boat next week, so will take a look, assume it's written on a label on them somewhere, what's the typical life of a LJ? I reckon some of mine must be 10 years old!

There should be a date of manufacture somewhere on the jacket itself and an expiry date printed on the gas cylinder. The jackets don’t “expire“ and should last for many years if looked after, but the inflation cylinders normally have a life of only three to four years.

if you’re coded, operating charters, etc. then you should normally have life jackets properly serviced and keep evidence of this. Most private owners just seem to check the condition of the jackets occasionally and change the cylinders themselves when necessary. Unfortunately, just like servicing of life-rafts, replacement gas cylinders are not cheap.

 

[Hurricane]

It's even worse where we are in Sant Carles, Spain - I know some bring their LRs back to the UK and have them serviced or sell them and then buy a new one out there. That's what I did the last time. They are expensive to service, but I suppose stating the obvious it would seem good value should you ever need to deploy and use one!

There are some Companies that hire them out. Which is worth investigating, if you only occasionally do long trips offshore and otherwise coastal hop, that's not to say they can save your lives even then.

The last time I had our liferaft serviced it cost well over 1000 euros - Nautical Alfacs - the local "rip off" company. I won't be using them again.