Life rafts are collapsible safety equipment used for emergency transportation away from a sinking vessel. They provide shelter, food, and water and have homing beacons and location transponders. Historically, ships were not required to carry enough life rafts until the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.
A life raft is a piece of safety equipment used to provide emergency transportation to get people away from an endangered vessel. Life rafts are at least partially collapsible, in contrast to lifeboats, which are solid. Life rafts are typically stored in their collapsed state, and must be inspected periodically to confirm that they are working properly. When people get on a boat, they must get used to determining where the life rafts are and finding out if they have been assigned to a specific life raft or boat in an emergency.
Some life rafts are inflatable. They are made of durable materials and may have attached inflation boats that are activated when a tab is pulled. This design is intended to ensure that the liferaft inflates quickly in an emergency, and that inflation is easy to perform if personnel are not available on the boat. Other life rafts may have collapsible designs, such as sides that fold down when the raft is not in use.
In addition to providing a mode of transit, a life raft usually also provides shelter so that people are at least partially protected from the elements. Modern liferafts also include homing beacons, location transponders, and other tools that are designed to make them easier to find, such as a tall mast with a flag that will make the liferaft easy to spot. Life rafts can also contain food and water rations, weather sheets and a basic first aid kit.
The purpose of a modern liferaft is to provide reasonable shelter that will last until people are found. Thanks to the many safety features on life rafts, ideally, people shouldn’t have to wait long. Rescue ships and planes can be dispatched from the nearest land when an emergency signal is sent, and people can be quickly taken to safety. However, the ocean is a big place, and things go wrong; sometimes a driftboat drifts for days before being found.
Historically, ship safety procedures were more of a fluke. In the early 20th century, ships were not even required to carry enough life rafts or dinghies to accommodate their maximum capacity. With the sinking of the RMS Titanic ocean liner in 1912, a safety movement arose, with ships being required to carry life rafts and observe other safety procedures. This sinking also served as the impetus for the Ice Patrol that covers the North Atlantic to monitor sea ice conditions for safety.
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