What are the SOLAS lifeboat and abandon ship drill requirements?

The drill requirements come from SOLAS Chapter III, Regulation 19, and they exist to keep two things proven: that every crew member knows their emergency duties, and that the boats, davits and release gear actually work. On cargo ships, every crew member must take part in an abandon ship drill and a fire drill at least once a month. If more than a quarter of the crew have not taken part in drills on board that particular ship in the previous month, a drill must be held within 24 hours of leaving port. Passenger ships hold musters of newly embarked passengers before or immediately upon departure, and their crews drill more frequently.

An abandon ship drill is not a talk on deck. The crew are summoned by the general emergency alarm, report to muster stations in lifejackets and, where carried, immersion suits, and are checked against the muster list. The drill must include preparing and lowering at least one lifeboat, starting and running its engine, operating the davits, and instruction in the launching arrangements and the use of the boat equipment, and the emergency lighting for musters is tested at each drill. Lifeboat engines are also run regularly, ahead and astern.

Beyond the monthly cycle, SOLAS sets deeper intervals. Each lifeboat must be launched with its assigned operating crew aboard and manoeuvred in the water at least once every three months during an abandon ship drill. Free-fall lifeboats are treated specially: the crew board and carry out a simulated launching at the required intervals, and the boat is free-fall launched or lowered by the secondary means at the longer intervals the regulation and the flag administration set. Rescue boats are launched and manoeuvred monthly as far as reasonable and practicable, and at least every three months. Ships with davit-launched liferafts hold periodic instruction in their use.

Treat the drills themselves as hazardous work. Serious accidents have happened during lifeboat drills, particularly with on-load release hooks operating unintentionally during recovery, so follow the maker's procedure exactly, use fall prevention devices where fitted, keep people out of the boat during hoisting wherever the arrangement allows, and never rush the resetting of release gear. Every drill and every session of onboard training is recorded in the log book, and if a full drill is not held on time, the reason is recorded too. Surveyors and Port State Control officers routinely ask the crew to demonstrate a boat, and a crew that drills honestly rather than on paper shows it immediately.