Verified by Bureau Veritas, the technology has been developed as a response to the increasing levels of shipping in the Polar Regions as well as the requirements of the new IMO Polar Code, due to enter force in 2017, which stipulates that rafts must be operable in temperatures down to 10°c below the ambient temperature. The liferafts come equipped with a heating blanket system and two sets have already been sold to an undisclosed yard in China to be fitted onboard general cargoships.
Available for all of SurvitecZodiac’s 60 different liferaft models, the blanket runs off the vessel’s emergency electrical supply, heating the rafts and maintaining flexibility of operation, preventing seals, hydrostatic release and trigger mechanisms from freezing over as well as maintaining the flexibility of the polyurethane liferaft fabric in subzero temperatures.
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