🔍 Key Concepts

• SOLAS requirements for survival craft equipment and thermal protective aids (TPAs) • Relationship between liferaft capacity and the number of TPAs required • Purpose of a thermal protective aid – to reduce heat loss for persons in liferafts or rescue boats

💭 Think About

• Think about whether every person in the survival craft must have a TPA, or whether they are intended for the most vulnerable people first. • Consider how regulations usually balance weight/space limits on survival craft equipment with providing minimum protection for hypothermia. • Ask yourself: are TPAs meant to be used continuously by everyone, or selectively when needed (e.g., injured, exhausted, or severely cold survivors)?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify in SOLAS Chapter III (Life-saving appliances), the table that lists equipment required for liferafts and rescue boats, including the percentage requirement for TPAs. • Confirm whether the regulation specifies a fixed number or a percentage of persons the craft is certified to carry. • Make sure you are looking at the requirement for thermal protective aids, not immersion suits or anti-exposure suits, which have different percentage rules.