MAIB Warns on Liferafts After Failure

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has issued a safety bulletin following the engine room flooding and foundering of the stern trawler Piedras (FD 528) which led to the failure of a liferaft to inflate. A second liferaft was successfully launched, and the crew were rescued.

Both liferafts exhibited deficiencies that raised servicing and certification concerns and are likely to have contributed to the failure, says MAIB. The port liferaft was never recovered, but inspection of the starboard liferaft found that it had not been correctly serviced since manufacture in March 2007, despite having been routinely certified.

Shortly after the accident, MAIB wrote to Deutsche Schlauchboot GmbH (DSB) parent company Survitec to issue recommendations regarding the servicing and certification of its liferafts. The recommendations have been made to ensure all owners and operators of liferafts serviced by Comfer Marin SL, Spain, between Jan 2017 and June 2022 contact their nearest approved Survitec liferaft service station.