[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 46, Volume 7]
[Revised as of October 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 46CFR199.157]

[Page 489-490]
 
                           TITLE 46--SHIPPING
 
   CHAPTER I--COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 199_LIFESAVING SYSTEMS FOR CERTAIN INSPECTED VESSELS--Table of Contents
 
                 Subpart B_Requirements for All Vessels
 
Sec. 199.157  Free-fall lifeboat launching and recovery arrangements.

    (a) The launching appliance for a free-fall lifeboat must be 
designed and installed so that the launching appliance and the lifeboat 
it serves operate as a system to protect the occupants from harmful 
acceleration forces and to effectively clear the vessel.
    (b) The launching appliance must be designed and arranged so that, 
in its ready to launch position, the distance from the lowest point on 
the lifeboat it serves to the water surface with the vessel in its 
lightest seagoing condition does not exceed the lifeboat's certificated 
free-fall height.
    (c) The launching appliance must be arranged to preclude accidental 
release

[[Page 490]]

of the lifeboat in its unattended stowed position. If the means provided 
to secure the lifeboat cannot be released from inside the lifeboat, the 
means to secure the lifeboat must be arranged to preclude boarding the 
lifeboat without first releasing it.
    (d) Each free-fall launching arrangement must be provided with a 
secondary means to launch the lifeboat by falls. Such means must comply 
with the requirements of Sec. Sec. 199.150, 199.153, and 199.155. 
Notwithstanding Sec. 199.150(c), the secondary launching appliance must 
be capable of launching the lifeboat against unfavorable conditions of 
trim of 2 degrees either way and of list of 5 degrees either way. The 
secondary launching appliance need not comply with the speed 
requirements of Sec. Sec. 199.153 (g), (h), and (i). If the secondary 
launching appliance is not dependent on gravity, stored mechanical 
power, or other manual means, the launching arrangement must be 
connected both to the vessel's main and emergency power supplies.