Alistair Baillie

Time-lapse video showing inside of a 150 person lifeboat as it is fully loaded and manoeuvred in the water on a cruise ship in the port of Ajaccio, Corsica.

CLIA require that at least once every 6 months their member lines demonstrate that they are able to fully load a lifeboat to its maximum capacity, gain access to equipment and manoeuvre the craft while fully loaded. The main purpose of the requirement is to demonstrate that it is possible to load the lifeboat with the number of persons it is certified for, it also gives the crew members an opportunity to practice loading and demonstrates what conditions will be like inside the craft should it be necessary to abandon ship in a real emergency.

For safety reasons, this is normally done with the craft already in the water – either by embarking from the pier or in this case a tender platform/shell door.

In this video the lifeboat is embarked by 150 crew members, the lifeboat is then cast off and manoeuvred in the port of Ajaccio, Corsica before coming back alongside and disembarking the crew.

Lifeboat: Harding Safety (Schat Harding) – 150 persons – partially enclosed lifeboat with single engine and rudder.