Technical Circular No: 019/2026
1. The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), at its 111th session held from 13 to 22 May 2026, approved the Revised Guidelines on Safety During Abandon Ship Drills Using Lifeboats vide MSC.1/Circ.1578/Rev.1, which supersedes MSC.1/Circ.1578.
2. The amendments follow changes to the International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code adopted through resolution MSC.589(111), particularly regarding arrangements for testing free-fall lifeboat release systems under load without launching the lifeboat into the water.
3. The guidelines build on a series of measures developed by the MSC over the past two decades to reduce the risk of accidents during lifeboat drills and improve the safe conduct of abandon ship exercises.
4. The revised Guidelines emphasize that:
a. Drills should be carefully planned, risk assessed and conducted under the supervision of competent personnel;
b. The manufacturer's operating and maintenance instructions should always be followed;
c. Procedures for safe drills should form part of the ship's SMS;
d. When drills are to be performed with persons on board the lifeboat, it is recommended that the boat be lowered and recovered without any persons on board first to ascertain that the arrangement functions correctly. In this case, the boat should then be lowered into the water with only the number of persons on board necessary to operate the boat;
e. Simulated launching of free-fall lifeboats should only be carried out where the lifeboat and launching appliance are specifically designed for simulated launching and the manufacturer has provided approved procedures;
f. For simulated launching of free-fall lifeboats, ensure that the arrangement to test the release system under load without launching the lifeboat into the water provided by the manufacturer is installed and secure and that the free-fall release mechanism is fully and correctly engaged; and
g. The objective of drills is to develop crew competence and confidence while minimizing the risk of injury during training.
5. Ship Owners/ operators and Masters are advised to use these Guidelines when planning and conducting abandon ship drills involving lifeboats.
Enclosure:
This Technical Circular and the material contained in it is provided only for the purpose of supplying current information to the reader and not as an advice to be relied upon by any person. While we have taken utmost care to be as factual as possible, readers/ users are advised to verify the exact text and content of the Regulation from the original source/ issuing Authority.