🔍 Key Concepts

• 46 CFR Subchapter T – Small Passenger Vessels in ocean service • Difference between life floats / buoyant apparatus and liferafts • Regulatory intent: backup flotation capacity if primary survival craft are lost or unusable

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: For ocean service, does the Coast Guard tend to require partial coverage or full coverage for total persons on board when using life floats? • Think about how severe conditions at sea can be and what percentage would reasonably align with a conservative safety standard. • Compare this with other survival craft requirements you’ve seen (like liferafts) – are they usually based on some fraction or on everyone on board?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify in 46 CFR what percentage of persons life floats (or buoyant apparatus) must accommodate for ocean service small passenger vessels. • Check that you are not confusing the requirement for life floats with that for liferafts or other survival craft. • Confirm whether the rule speaks in terms of all persons on board (passengers + crew), not just passengers.