Liferaft servicing is a necessity, not an option, but society’s wider shift from product ownership to the service-based economy is being felt even in this unexpected area
In 2016, a World Economic Forum blog by Danish politician Ida Auken caused an unexpected stir by predicting that, in 2030, “I don’t own anything. I don’t own a car. I don’t own a house. I don’t own any appliances or any clothes.”
After her words were taken as feeding UN ‘Agenda 21’ conspiracy narratives of a new world order of eco-totalitarianism, the politician was moved to recalibrate her remarks as the “start of a discussion”.
The discussion has certainly gathered momentum, with consumers now expecting continuous upgrades, city dwellers picking up and dropping off bikes and scooters on the go, and household outgoings increasingly paid for by subscription. If ownership appears to bring control – especially over hidden expenses – many see greater benefit in being free of its obligations.
In the maritime context, Danish safety solutions provider VIKING Life-Saving Equipment says liferafts offer a notable example of an essential product where customers increasingly choose rental over ownership.
“In the past, owners very much viewed their liferafts as assets to be owned but, today, a large part of the liferafts we supply are subscription-based,” notes Dorte Hansen, vice president sales regions, VIKING. “This allows the owner to exchange liferafts when they need to ensure full compliance. Rather than having to unload the liferafts, get them to the service station and wait for service and redelivery, it’s a one-step exchange.”
While regulatory standards mean that liferafts from different suppliers will often have need to be designed, manufactured and serviced to strict and common standards, Hansen stresses that quality and performance are paramount when lives are at stake. Furthermore, when assets are deployed, it will be their readiness for use that matters – rather than who owns what.
The value of exchange
VIKING has long offered liferaft exchange, but the scope of agreements is changing, adds Hansen. “Sometimes, a client had an exchange arrangement to deal with issues at a particular port but, increasingly, owners see liferaft exchange taking less time in most if not all ports. The advantage was reinforced by the port congestion issues that happened during Covid-19, and like many things, once the change was made, there was no going back.”
The shift to liferaft exchange is part of a broader pattern of change in life-saving equipment servicing requirements, where flexibility has been set as the priority by VIKING’s planning and service teams.
VIKING Owner Agreements team lead Helene Mønsted Andersen describes a “matrix” of options through which different customer liferaft service preferences are served. The matrix includes the exchange approach, but also fixed price VIKING Shipowner Agreements covering all life-saving equipment, whose purpose is to take the hassle out of safety equipment upkeep and deliver compliance as a service.
Welcome to the matrix
These agreements allow owners to choose from a number of fixed price options, deploy either rented or owned liferafts, and select the liferaft exchange option for instant turnaround. “The shipowner agreements have been very successful with customers, offering the type of transparency they seek to avoid hidden costs in their servicing arrangements,” says Mønsted Andersen.
Increasingly in the service mix are the digital technologies which support greater remote oversight of assets and ensure that the right equipment is in place at all times to uphold safety requirements, she points out. VIKING’s digital portal is set up for onboarded clients to check on the compliance status of their equipment at all times, for example, to establish whether equipment coming up for recertification is booked in via VIKING’s central planning system.
Another variable Mønsted Andersen identifies as increasing in significance has been growing owner preference for 30-month service intervals for liferaft, in line with class certification which is acceptable to an increasing number of IMO flag states.
VIKING supplies and services liferafts on both standard 12-month (S12) and extended 30-month (S30) service interval liferafts in all types and sizes.
Extended service approved
First formalised by IMO in 2009, the 30-month service provision remains a guideline for approval by individual administrations, with liferafts certified on an extended basis after they have been serviced at an approved servicing station. Initially, it is limited to the first 10 years of a liferaft’s time in service, although this may be extended if real time verification justifies acceptance by the Administration.
While some administrations continue with the previous 12-month service regime, where owners need to apply for extensions case by case, Dorte Hansen says the 30-month regime makes planning ahead simpler for the supplier, its service stations and the owner. The initial appetite for change came from the cruise and ferry sectors, she explains, but all customer types are now making S30 liferafts part of their thinking.
“Getting liferafts off offshore rigs is a cumbersome business, for example, so if the service interval can be increased to 30 months, it’s a maintenance gain,” says Hansen. Some clients prefer to maintain a mix of S30 and S12 units, and this is also fully accommodated within VIKING’s servicing regime.
Upholding the 30-month service interval requires a supplementary annual liferaft inspection by certified crew members, Hansen acknowledges. However, VIKING has also built simplicity into the check for CO2 and humidity within the liferaft’s sealed aluminum bag. A power-free, magnetic testing tool is inserted in the liferaft container’s transparent panel, which shows green – for compliant – or red.
“Where delivering safety and continuous compliance as a service is concerned, every effort should be made to ensure that the user is encouraged towards greater vigilance and more frequent checking of liferaft readiness for action,” Hansen concludes.
