I ran into two nice pictures that show that these fishing vessels are out at sea regardless of the weather. Needless to say they are built to take some serious abuse.
Below a short video on You Tube showing a similar trawler cruising at sea. Have you ever seen a promotional video of a yacht under such circumstances? Not very likely because with that kind of weather, they stay in port !
It was initially our plan to get the ship certified according to SOLAS passenger standards. While we still plan to built according to SOLAS rules, I learned there was one little “problem” that would not go away: the lifeboats requirements. SOLAS required either one (semi) enclosed lifeboat with approved davit system on each site or a free-fall lifeboat on the aft deck. Either it wouldn’t fit or just look plain ugly. So, we plan to settle for ABS Motor yacht rules, unrestricted service. We can still apply SOLAS safety in many areas but it will allow us to replace lifeboats with liferafts.
While we won’t fly a red ensign flag, we will also seek an MCA LY2 code note of compliance. That will never hurt the resale value.
I wrote a lot about watermist systems in another post and have since written several manufacturers for more info. I also consulted with my naval architect and learned that in fact we don’t need a sprinker system under SOLAS rules. Portable fire extinguishers and of course an approved fire detection system is what we need according to the rules. This brings us several advantages:
The alternative is an array of portable extinguishers or a product called NOVEC 1230 fire protection fluid by 3M. More about it in a future post. Meanwhile, check out their website, the info on Wikipedia and that of reseller Kidde Fire Systems.
It’s safe, it’s clean and good for the environment.