🔍 Key Concepts

• Ballast bags on an inflatable liferaft are underwater pockets that fill with seawater to keep the raft from capsizing or skidding across the surface • They are normally attached along the bottom exterior of the raft, below the waterline, not on the canopy or inside the raft • Distinguish ballast bags from the sea anchor/drogue and from boarding ladders or lifelines

💭 Think About

• Looking at the illustration, which numbered parts are clearly hanging under the raft and would be submerged when the raft is afloat? • Which items appear designed to hold water for weight, rather than for climbing, towing, or slowing drift? • Compare the items near the bottom of the raft: which ones are shaped like pockets or bags rather than lines, rungs, or cones?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be sure the item you pick is under the raft’s floor, not on the side, canopy, or outside line • Confirm the shape looks like a bag or pocket that could fill with water, not a ladder step or towing line • Verify it is fixed in multiple places along the underside of the raft, consistent with several ballast bags spaced around the bottom