Tag Archives: survival suits
Coast Guard finds serious defect in popular survival suits
Scott Wilwert is the commercial fishing vessel safety program manager for the Coast Guard in Alaska. He says the problem was discovered during a routine inspection in June. “Inspectors that were out in Bristol Bay a few weeks ago reported finding issues with relatively newly manufactured immersion suits,” Wilwert said. “And what they were finding was an area of what appeared to be a delamination, or a lack of adhesion of the glue that’s used to fix the zipper assembly to the neoprene part of the suit.” The suits are Imperial Immersion Suits manufactured by Survitec Group, a safety equipment manufacturer based in the United Kingdom,,, Wilwert says the Coast Guard isn’t sure how widespread the issue is. The problem became apparent in late June; After the Coast Guard notified Survitec, the company told the Coast Guard they had seen suits in Canada with a similar defect. >click to read< 08:02
Neglected safety gear on fishing boats endanger fishermen – If it’s not maintained, it’s likely not going to work
“It’s one thing to go out and buy all this for your vessel, but if it’s not maintained it’s likely not going to work for you when you need it,” said Matthew Duffy, a safety adviser with the association. Duffy has seen survival suits full of holes, rotted ropes, and life rings tied so tightly they couldn’t be used. “We did a man-overboard drill where we got the crew involved and they got their immersion suits out,” said Duffy. “One crew member opened it up and there was a squirrels’ nest in one of them, you know, chewed right through the suit,,, >click to read< 07:40
‘Bad things can happen on nice days’: Lobster season safety takeaways
Neil LeBlanc still remembers the moment he and a crew member made eye contact after the man had been pulled overboard from their lobster vessel. A rope was clenched in the man’s hand. “I remember him looking right at me. As soon as we made eye contact, he was gone.” LeBlanc knows from experience how fast you can disappear from the deck of a vessel.,, But that calm April day in 2016, LeBlanc says, also shows how things can go wrong at any time. As soon as their crew member Wayne Jacquard had gone overboard that day, as soon as their eye contact had been made, LeBlanc was turning the boat around to retrieve their man. Helping him onboard with the rescue was crew member Alderic DeViller, known to his friends as Beef (his nickname). >click to read< 10:30
New safety gear needed for P.E.I. lobster fishermen, but supply comes up short
P.E.I. lobster fishermen will have some new safety gear on board when the spring lobster season opens at the end of April. At least, they are supposed to, after new federal safety rules came into effect last July. But the new fishery safety standards affect more than 22,000 Canadian boats and that has left many fishermen scrambling to get the gear they need. Under the new Transport Canada regulations unveiled in 2016, fishing vessels are required to have specific safety gear on board, including a life raft, survival suits and a location signaling device. >click to read< 18:10
Massachusetts Fishing Partnership – Safety training for SouthCoast fishermen an eye-opener
Thirty-three fishermen and SMAST students and staff tried out, for the first time for many of them, fire extinguishers, flares, bailout pumps, life rafts and survival suits — all at no charge to them. With thanks to the Massachusetts Fishing Partnership. Read more here 09:17
