WO2002066321A1

WO2002066321A1 - Life raft

Info

Publication number: WO2002066321A1
Application number: PCT/DK2002/000109
Authority: WO
Inventors: Richardt Brodersen Nissen
Original assignee: Thanner Development A/S
Priority date: 2001-02-22
Filing date: 2002-02-19
Publication date: 2002-08-29

Abstract

The present invention relates to an inflatable life raft, where the raft in its deflated position is arranged in an openable container comprising at least two sections, means for releasing and inflating/expanding said life raft and means for aiding a user into the raft.

Description

LIFE RAFT

A prior art device is illustrated in fig. 1 of the drawing. It is shown that an openable container 1 is held together in order to avoid undesired opening with fastening straps 200, preferably snap fastening straps, and is fastened with at least one fastening strap 2 to a rack 3 and thereby to the vessel. An easily releasable locking mechanism or more precisely a locking mechanism system 4 for fastening and releasing the fastening strap 2 is provided. The life raft is packed inside the container 1, which as indicated consists of to halves la and lb, which are openable in relation to each other when the fastening straps 200 and possibly the fastening strap 2 no longer keep them together via the locking mechanism 4. A handle release organ for the locking mechanism 4 can also, possibly simultaneously, be provided as a hydrostatic release device which is opened by water pressure. Additionally, the locking mechanism is used as a fastening device for a painter line 5, which can be connected to the container 1 until the life raft is de- ployed on the water. The painter line 5 serves both as life raft release means, which causes the life raft to be deployed, and as a means to keep the life raft in the vicinity of the vessel on which the life raft was installed, after deployment in the water.

In an emergency where people are to be rescued by the life raft, the life raft is released from the rack by releasing the locking mechanism 4 and throwing the container 1 into the water. The painter line 5 rolls out to an appropriate line length and when the painter line 5 tightens the expansion device on the life raft is activated by opening the snap fastening straps 200. These are provided as maximum load straps and when the life raft is deployed, a provided fastening strap 2 around the container 1 is released, i.e. the strap is exposed to a maximum load whereby it breaks. The container divides into its two halves la and lb, which disappear from the raft as this is inflated and the two halves sink freely to the bottom of the ocean.

The containers release means are usually provided in such a manner that if the crew of the ship in an emergency should not have time to release the container from the rack, the container will release itself via the locking mechanism, as this has been provided with a per se known release mechanism, which can be an appropriate combination of slip hook and/or hydrostatic releaser, which releases when the ship sinks and the release mechanism is subjected to a water pressure with a maximal pressure correspond- ing to a 4 meter water column.

When the inflated life raft floats on the water surface persons who have jumped into the water can crawl into the life raft via an boarding ramp which, normally, is provided as an inflatable part connected to the life raft. An example is ramp 6 shown in fig. 3 and 4 arranged on a tent shaped life raft 7, 8a, 8b.

Such known life raft systems must, however, meet a series of criteria in order to function as intended. The compliance of these criteria is in itself connected with elements of insecurity/disadvantages which reduce the efficiency of these life rafts.

In order for such known life raft systems to function there are, thus, several items which a priori must be in order:

A. The life raft and the hydrostatic release mechanism must be correctly installed. Practise has shown that many life raft containers as well as hydrostatic release mechanism are not correctly installed as especially the painter line is connected wrongly and such mounting errors have in several instances cost human lives. The container and the releaser usually ordinarily installed as separate, individual units and no authorisation is required to perform the installation.

B. When a person has to crawl up from the water into the life raft this is in itself a difficult process because the inflated ramp only provides a poor support and as the ramp is a part of the inflated structure it will also float on the water surface, which makes it extremely difficult for a person lying in the water to get a foothold on. Furthermore, if the person manages to get up on the boarding ramp at all, the ramp, because of its own low stiffness which is limited by the inflation pressure inside the ramp and the limited stiffness of the ramp's fastening devices displays a tendency to bend under the life raft. One can imagine that persons carrying many layers of wet clothing struggling in cold waters and often high waves cannot lift themselves onto the ramp. Even in practise pools where temperatures and wind and weather conditions have been considered ideal it is difficult to board life rafts of this type.

It is the purpose of the present invention to provide an improved life raft so that among other things these two disadvantages are avoided.

This is achieved according to the present invention in that the container is made from rigid or semi-rigid material and that the means for aiding a user into the raft is a rigid ladder construction having at least one step attached to one section of the container and that the inflatable part of the life raft remains connected to the same container

'. section with the ladder construction.

When the inflatable hfe raft is made to inflate on the surface of the water a section of the side of the life raft will be constituted by the rigid or semi-rigid section of the container, which is fastened on an outer side of the inflatable life raft. On the side of the container which is the outside when the inflatable life raft is packed inside the container, is arranged a ladder construction having at least one step. By providing a rigid ladder it is now possible for persons being afloat in or on the water to grip onto a rigid construction and thereby finding a firm foot hold whereby access to the life raft itself is made much easier.

It is a well-known fact that the longer a person stays in cold water, the less strength the person has to perform tasks. Furthermore, by being exposed to harsh conditions and cold water the persons ability to think clearly diminishes over time. The time factor is therefore a very important factor in rescuing lives. Tests have shown that the ladder fastened to the outside of a rigid part of the container makes it much easier for persons in or on the water to climb into the life raft in comparison to the boarding ramp as explained above in respect to the prior art. Tests under controlled conditions showed that persons in the water spent about half as much time climbing into the life raft using the system according to the invention than in comparison to the prior art devices.

In a further embodiment of the invention the ladder construction comprises raft container fastenings means and two chassis frames arranged with a distance between them so that the ladder is pivotably fastened between the chassis frames and that means for attaching fastening straps for keeping the container united with the ladder construction are provided.

Normally, the rigid or semi-rigid container comprises two halves. By attaching one container half permanently to the ladder construction and detachably fastening the other half by fastening straps to the ladder construction as well, the unit in its deflated and not used state is a comprehensible unit which can be placed onboard a vessel.

Once the hfe raft is deployed in the water and the inflating mechanism is activated, whereby the gas pressure inside the inflatable life raft creates such an overpressure that the fastening straps break, the top half of the container will be free and sink to the bottom. The other half of the container shell which is permanently fastened to the inflatable part of the life raft will be securely fixed to an outside of the inflatable life raft. On the outside of this shell is the ladder construction arranged. Hereby is assured that persons in the water wanting to get into the life raft have a fixed construction to use in order to climb inside the raft. Extensive tests have shown, as explained above, that it is much easier and safer to climb up a fixed construction than a flexible construction as is known from the prior art.

In a further advantageous embodiment the container fastening means is a plate mem- ber and the chassis frames and the ladder are made from bent pipe material, preferably from stainless steel. As life rafts are usually employed on ships in salt water environment, it is important to assure the continual functioning of this kind of devices. There- fore, the metal parts can preferably be made from a material which will not be effected by the harsh salt water environment. Stainless steel is a proven standard in this kind of applications and is therefore a preferred material in which to make the metal parts of the life raft. The container fastening means as well as the fastening means can also be made from plastic materials, glass fibre reinforced plastics, aluminium or any other suitable material which will provide enough strength to withstand the loads on a ladder construction in use and at the same time are corrosion resistant in respect of the harsh environment, wherein this kind of life raft usually is employed.

In order to counter and assure the prefect functioning of the inflatable life raft in its environment the life raft can in a further advantageous embodiment in its deflated state be arranged inside the container in a sealed bag member. By arranging the life raft which is usually made from rubber or any other suitable flexible material inside a sealed bag it is possible to open the container and check the gas tank which is used in order to inflate the inflatable life raft. A typical way of checking the gas tank is to take it outside the container and weigh it in order to assure that it contains enough gas to inflate the life raft. Furthermore, when having the inflatable life raft packed in a sealed bag member it is possible to check the sealing and in this way make sure that the life raft as such has not deteriorated.

hi another advantageous embodiment the deflated life raft is packed inside the container and the gas tank for supplying gas for the inflation of the life raft is arranged in a holding device inside the container part to which the ladder is fastened. In this embodiment where the gas tank is securely fastened to the rigid or semi-rigid shell mak- ing up the container, the gas tank is held in a fixed position in relation to the inflatable life raft. Hereby is assured that the gas tank will not move in relation to the inflatable life raft and thereby either rip a hole in the life raft or break the pipe/hose connection between the gas outlet and the gas inlet in the inflatable life raft. This is especially important when the container is thrown off a ship sometimes from a high storage po- sition .and thereby hits the water with a quite high impact. Furthermore, by arranging the gas tank in one of the container halves, this half will be heavier than the other half due to the weight of the gas tank. The container will, therefore, ride on the water with the heavier container half lowest. By taking this into account when packing the inflatabel life raft, it is possible to assure that the life raft will inflate/expand with the right side up.

In a still further advantageous embodiment a hydrostatic release mechanism is arranged as an integral part of the raft container fastening means. In the applications where it is desired to build in the extra safety of having a hydrostatic release mecha- nism the correct arrangement of this device can be assured by mounting it in the factory. Hereby is assured that the hydrostatic release device is not mistakenly arranged in a non functional manner whereby, as has been seen before, the life raft will not be activated when exposed to a certain hydrostatic water pressure and examples have shown that the life raft will be pulled down with the ship as it sinks.

The chassis frames can advantageously, when the raft in its deflated condition is placed on a vessel, serve as a rack for the life rafts. Normally, purpose built racks are built on which the life rafts af e placed and whereby upon activation the life rafts will be ejected into the water. These racks are an extra cost in the installing of life rafts on vessels. By integrating the ladder construction into the life raft structure and at the same time utilising the chassis frames both as handles for the ladder construction and thereby helping persons in the water to get into the hfe raft, the chassis frames can also serve as a rack, whereby by simple means on the ship, for example by a pin arrangement on the ship corresponding to a hole on the chassis frame the life raft includ- ing the ladder construction can easily be mounted on the deck of any vessel.

In a further advantageous embodiment the raft in its inflated state in the water will have the chassis frames in a substantially vertical position and the ladder is pivoted into a vertical position projecting downwards from the water surface. When attaching the life raft to the container section an outside vertical surface of the life raft as seen in use should be attached to the bottom surface of the container section. When the life raft thereafter is put in the water and inflated the bottom of the container and thereby the chassis frames will be raised into a substantially vertical position. By giving the chassis frames a shape as a bent structure these can be designed for use as handle bars for persons trying to climb into the life raft. The ladder itself is arranged to pivot about an axis parallel to the side of the life raft and substantially perpendicular to the plane of the chassis frames. Hereby is assured that the ladder will be able to pivot away from the bottom of the container section and downwards into a substantially vertical position extending under the surface of the water. When persons wanting to board the life raft swim up to the inflatable life raft they will be able to find a rigid foot hold beneath the surface of the water, whereby they will be able to easily with the help of the handle bars to climb into the life raft.

As should be evident from the forgoing explanation the raft container fastening means with the chassis frames and the ladder are suitable to be mounted on existing life rafts simply by attaching fastening straps to the means for attaching straps on the raft con- tainer fastening means. Hereby is assured that although some of the many advantages of this invention cannot be utilised for life rafts not purposely built for this kind of construction they will at least be assured to have rigid and well-functioning boarding means for persons wanting to get into the inflatable life raft.

In some instances when the life raft is deployed on the water it will be turned upside down. For this purpose most inflatable life rafts are equipped with a strap on the bottom, whereby a person standing on the side and bottom of the life raft will be able to turn the life raft over.- For this purpose the raft container fastening means ' and the chassis frames as well as the ladder is made in such a way that the ladder can freely pivot into a position where in the case when the inflatable life raft is turned upside down the ladder will be just as useful in order to climb onto the bottom of the raft as for normal use when the raft has its right side up.

In a further advantageous embodiment the raft container fastening means are made as light weight as possible by removing a central part of the plate member. Also this allows for an extra step in that a step can be formed in the semi-rigid or rigid container construction for extra ease for boarding the inflatable life raft. Preferably the release for the inflation/expansion operation of the raft is provided fastened to the container part on which the ladder construction is arranged.

Description of the drawing

Embodiments according to the invention are described in the following in more detail with reference to the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows isometrically a container containing a packed or folded life raft on- board a ship in a rack fastened by a releasable locking mechanism and per se known; fig. 2 also shows isometrially in more detail a per se known locking mechanism for use at a container according to fig. 1; fig. 3 shows schematically and isometrically a tent shaped, inflated or extended life raft with a single prior art boarding ramp; fig- 4 shows a vertical cross-section of the boarding area with- a boarding ramp according to fig. 3; fig. 5 shows schematically and isometrically the life raft according to fig. 3, but with angularly embodied boarding ramp; fig. 6 shows a vertical cross-section of the boarding area with angularly embod- ied and extended boarding ramp according to fig. 5; fig. 7 shows, schematically and isometrically a tent shaped, inflated and/or extended life raft according to the invention with an extended boarding ramp according to the invention; fig. 8 shows a vertical cross-section of the boarding area with boarding ramp ac- cording to fig. 7; fig. 9 shows schematically and perspectively a container containing a packed life raft according to the invention; fig. 10 shows the device 30, 40, 46 according to fig. 9 in another embodiment ■ accordmg to the invention; fig. 11 shows a more detailed embodiment of the manual release handle 40 according to fig. 10 or corresponding to release handle 20 according to fig. 2 or handle 20 according to fig. 15; fig. 12 shows another embodiment for fastening part 30 according to fig. 9 or 10; fig. 13 shows a section XLII-Xiπ according to fig. 9 and 12; fig. 14 shows in enlarged scale the middle part of fig. 12 and fig- 15 shows a further embodiment according to the invention of the locking mechanism according to fig. 2; fig. 16 shows an embodiment of raft container fastening means; fig. 17 shows a side view of the means according to fig. 16.

An already known type of life raft complete with container has already been described earlier with reference to fig. 1 of the drawing. In fig. 2 a known type of locking device is shown in more detail used in connection with the type of life raft/container illustrated in fig. 1.

In this description the life raft comprises a container made from a rigid or semi-rigid material, preferably glass fibre reinforced polyester. The container consists of at least two halves. A rack structure doubling as an aid for persons waiting to climb onboard, preferably by using a ladder.'- The rack is .preferably made from stainless steel.

Inside the container a holding arrangement (not shown) can optionally be provided for storing and holding the gas tank used when inflating the life raft. Furthermore, inside the container is stored the inflatable hfe raft. One part of the container is connected to both the inflatable life raft and to the rack construction ladder. Straps are provided in order to keep the lid of the container in place. Said straps are preferably circumventing at least a part of the container and can be fastened at appropriate fastening means on the rack. As the raft is inflated, the raft will exert a pressure on the at least two container halves. As the pressure builds the straps will break and the raft will be able to expand freely.

The locking mechanism is on its upper side connected to the^' fastening strap 2 by a pressure effected openable locking device 20, 22, 24 which does not require further description as it is not part of the present invention. The locking mechanism is at its bottom end fastened with a shackle 32 to an eye device 30 on the rack 3. These upper and lower locking mechanism parts are connected to each other via the two interlocking locking organs 44 and 46, which are kept interlocked by a releasable fastening rack holder 42 with an interior lock pressing organ connected to a hydrostatic release mechanism 40 of the kind described earlier. To this fastening rack holder 42 a further inflatable release organ with a fastening ring 52 is connected, which is kept mechanically connected to the locking mechanism by a weak link 54 when the hydrostatic release mechanism in the locking mechanism has been opened. The release ring 52 is connected via a shackle 50 to the painter line 5 described earlier. The working proce- dure for the locking mechanism as such has also been described earlier.

In figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 two different situations are illustrated for a known life raft with an inflatable or extended tent structure 7 with a boarding opening 7a resting on two connected inflatable rings 8a and 8b provided above each other, which rings float on a water surface not shown, and where the ring 8b outside the boarding area 7a includes a likewise completely or partly inflatable, respectively extendible, boarding ramp 6.

Tn an unloaded condition the boarding ramp 6 ordinarily assume the position shown in fig. 4, while it when strained by a person boarding is not supposed to go further into the water than what is illustrated in fig. 6.

However, practise has shown that the boarding ramp in many situations is forced even further into, the water that what is indicated in fig. 6 as a result of the weight and influence from gravity from a person boarding, but also as a result of the fact that the entire life raft, especially when it is empty or when only a few persons are in it, generally tips substantially further into the water than what is illustrated according to fig. 6. In some instanced the boarding ramp will have a tendency to bend under the raft, making entering/boarding extremely difficult.

In fig. 7 and 8 of the drawing an inflated and or expanded life raft according to the invention is shown hi a similar manner as an example. It appears that the lower part lb of the container 1 remains in place connected to at least one of the carrying rings 8 here indicated with both carrying rings 8a and 8b.

In the remaining part of the description the carrying rings will be referred to as the inflatable part of the life raft.

However, the is no reason why there should not be more inflatable parts which can be connected in various ways. The container part lb comprises at least one light, but ^"strong boarding ramp and/or entry ladder 6, which is displaced and/or glides into the water. In fig. 8 the device in shown in cross-section.

Besides the advantage of being kept safely and well in place and being well designed for when a person floating in the water enters the life raft, this device also has the advantage of being valuable as a gripping and turning aid, should the hfe raft happen to be deployed with the tent part 7 submerged in the water under the inflatable parts 8. In this situation it will be easier to force the life raft around via the ramp 6 according to the invention used as tipping tool and with handles in the ramp 6, which turns upwards, just as the upwards facing ramp in this situation is suitable for carrying one person or two and through their weight contributing to turning the life raft around, so that the tent is placed correctly on the upper side of the inflatable parts. There is normally provided a rope or straps under the bottom of life rafts for gripping and aiding in turning the raft.

In fig. 9 of the drawing which indicates an exemple of an embodiment according to the invention, a closed container 1 is shown provided with parts la and lb, said container is kept closed with fastening straps 2 and where the lower container part lb is kept securely locked to a carrying rack 3 with an indicated releasable locking mechanism 40, 46 mounted in the container part lb with an eye device or- another suitable fastening device 30 (see fig. 2). The locking mechanism 40 contains a hydrostatic re- lease mechanism providing the possibility for a quick release of the locking mechanism for example by a predetermined water pressure as described above. Another advantage of the device according to the invention is that the entire life raft including locking mechanism in its closed and non-operational condition is mounted and fastened onboard a ship as a complete unit. The only precaution when installing the life raft is that the container in an emergency will be able to leave the ship freely without getting stuck in obstacles along the way.

In this connection an embodiment of the locking mechanism according to the invention is shown in fig. 10. Details of this embodiment are shown in fig. 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. In fig. 9 the entire container is shown in a packed/deflated condition fastened only by one bolt or the like to a vessel, which at the same time assures the correct mounting of both the container and the locking mechanism of the fastening device and at the same time is very service friendly and allows for testing of the functions of the locking mechanism, embodied as an authorising testing.

Also by providing the life raft with all release mechanism including the optional hydrostatic release mechanism premounted fewer potentially disastrous faults due to wrong mounting will occur, as everything can be mounted under factory conditions.

Fig. 11 serves to illustrate a user manual in English for arrangement at a manual re- lease organ shown as embodied according to fig. 10, but could also relate to a possible embodiment of the manual release embodiment shown via 40 in fig. 9.

In fig. 12 and 13 are shown supporting bow parts of the lower container half lb. The rack part 3 being the life raft mounting rack on a vessel is at its ends provided with U- shaped horizontal tracks 105 with upwards facing forks which serve as receiver organs for the bow shaped chassis frames 102 including vertical connecting parts 101 and 103 of the lower half. Of the forks facing upwards from the U-shaped tracks 105 only one of the U- forks 109 is shown. The chassis frame 102 with a freely releaseably interlocking pin 108 is fastened at one end to a. track end 106 for the U-shaped tracks 105. At the other end there is no fastening organ, as the locking mechanism with 30, 46, 40 or with 30, 46, 20 serves to keep the lower container half lb in place. A leaf spring like spring organ 104 can optionally be arranged hi the U-shaped tracks and serves via its spring force to forcibly lift the container half lb when leaving the U-shaped tracks in case of emergency.

Compared to the prior art locking mechanism according to fig. 2, another more secure locking mechanism according to the invention is shown in fig 14 and 15. The painter line 5 is fastened to the element 46 mainly as indicated in fig. 2, but the weak link fastening connection 54 is instead connected via an eye device 50 through an eye hole 35 in the element 46 to the painter line 5. When mounting the lower container half lb this can optionally have built-in an integral hydrostatic release mechanism 40 includ- ing the locking catch part 46, which fastens the manual release organ 40. Only the locking catch part is to be connected to the parts 32 and 30 by a bolt ^'34 for fastening of the entire container to the vessel and should also be secured with a split 36. The weak connection link 54 can thus no longer be mounted wrongly as it belongs together with the container half lb until the actual emergency release takes place. If the release handle 20 is retracted, a locking part 26 is released from the lower container half lb which thereafter is able to leave the part of the rack 3 shown as U-shaped tracks.

The weak connection link is dimensioned to break in the situation when the life raft has been deployed by the hydrostatic release mechanism whereb the life raft is con- nected via painter line 5 to the vessel. As the vessel sinks the life raft deployed on the surface of the water will resist the sinking and thereby pulling by the vessel in the painter line, which when the tension reaches a certain level will break and thereby release the life raft from its connection to the vessel.

In fig. 16 is illustrated an example of a raft container fastening means 110 comprising a plate member 111 having a chassis frame 112 at either end. This raft container fastening means is suitable for being fitted either on existing life rafts of the type described above or for newly produced life rafts especially adapted to the invention.

The plate member 111 is of a general U-shape. On the two upstanding flanges 113,114 are provided a number of means for attaching fastening straps 115. Furthermore, a large aperture 116 is provided in the bottom of the U. This aperture corresponds to the section of the container,, wherein an additional step can be formed in the rigid or semirigid material of the container. The aperture 116 gives access to this step. The chassis frames 112 having a bow shape acts partly as rack for the life raft installation when the life raft is placed onboard a vessel. When the life raft is deployed in the water, the plate member 111 will be in a substantially vertical position whereby the chassis frames 113 will act as handle bars and aid a person in climbing aboard the life raft. In the plate member is also arranged slits 117 in which an axle 118 can be arranged. The axle 118 makes it possible for the ladder 119 (see fig. 17) to pivot about said axle 118. In the plate member 111 is also arranged a housing 120 for accommodating the hy- drostatic release mechanism 40 as described in more detail above. The raft container fastening means can be equipped with a hydrostatic release mechanism, but for other purposes it might be desired not to provide such a device.

Turning to fig. 17 the chassis frames 112 can be seen supporting the plate member 111 for the flanges 113, 114. The hydrostatic release mechanism 40 is mounted in the housing 120. Underneath the plate 111 which is intended for being fastened to the container comprising the inflatable life raft is arranged a ladder 119. The ladder is pivotable about the axis 1.18 and the axis 118 can_.be slit back and forth in the slit 117 made in the plate member 111. By this arrangement it is possible to have the ladder extend down into the water at all times regardless of whether or not the life raft when deployed in the water is turned upside down or downside up.

The means for attaching fastening straps 115 are supplied in an appropriate number, depending on the size of the life raft container.

The gas tank used to inflate the inflatable life raft is stored in the container fastened to the rack. By also arranging a drain corresponding to an aperture in the plate member 111 can be assured that the life raft packed inside the container is constantly kept at a minimum humidity as well as having fixing means for fixing the gas tank to the rigid construction, this gas tank will not be able to damage either the connection to the inflatable life raft or the life raft itself. Hereby is assured that when the life raft is deployed by throwing the container including the raft container fastening means 110 over board the gas tank will not, due to the impact with the water, have enough force to damage any part of the construction.

Claims

1. Inflatable life raft where the raft in its deflated position is arranged in an openable container comprising at least two sections, means for releasing and infiat- ing/expanding said life raft and means for aiding a user into the raft, characterised in that the container is made from rigid or semi-rigid material and that the means for aiding a user into the raft is a rigid ladder construction having at least one step attached to one section of the container and that the inflatable part of the life raft remains connected to the same container section with the ladder construc- tion.

2. Life raft according to claim 1, characterised in that the ladder construction comprises a raft container, fastening means and two chassis frames arranged with a distance, that the ladder is pivotably fastened between the chassis frames and that means for attaching fastening straps for keeping the container united with the ladder construction are provided.

3. Life raft according to claim 1, characterised in that the container fastening means is a plate member and that the chassis frames and the ladder construction are made from bent pipe material, preferable stainless steel.

4. Life raft according to any of the proceeding claims, characterised in that the deflated life raft is arranged inside the container in a sealed bag member.

5. Life raft according to any of the proceeding claims, characterised in that the deflated life raft is packed inside the container and that the gas tank for supplying gas for the inflation of the raft is arranged in a holding device inside the container part to which the ladder is fastened.

6. Life raft according to any of claims 2-5, characterised in that the chassis frames when the raft in deflated condition is placed on a vessel serve as a rack.

7. Life raft according to any of the proceeding claims, characterised in that a hydrostatic release mechanism is attached to the raft container fastening means.

8. Life raft according to any of the proceeding claims, characterised in that when the raft is in its inflated state in the water the chassis frames are substantially vertical and the ladder is pivoted into a vertical position projecting downwards from the water surface.