(a) Before servicing an inflatable liferaft under the servicing facility's Coast Guard approval, the owner or operator of the facility must tell the cognizant OCMI for each liferaft to be serviced—

(1) The make and size of the liferaft;

(2) The age of the liferaft; and

(3) Whether the liferaft is due for a five-year inflation test.

(b) The OCMI will inform the servicing facility whether the servicing of the liferaft must be witnessed by an inspector.

(c) If the OCMI requires the servicing of the liferaft to be witnessed by an inspector—

(1) The servicing facility must arrange a schedule with the OCMI that will allow a Coast Guard inspector to travel to the site where the servicing is to occur;

(2) The owner or operator of the servicing facility, by permission of the OCMI, may arrange for the servicing to be witnessed instead by a third-party inspector accepted by the OCMI if a Coast Guard marine inspector is not available in a timely manner; and

(3) The servicing facility must not begin servicing the liferaft until the inspector arrives at the site.

(d) No deviation from servicing-manual procedures may occur without the prior approval of the OCMI. To request the approval of a deviation, the owner or operator of the servicing facility shall notify the OCMI of the proposed deviation from the procedures, and must explain to the OCMI the need for the deviation.