(a) At least three two-way VHF radiotelephone apparatus must be provided on every passenger ship and on every cargo ship of 500 tons gross tonnage and upwards. At least two two-way VHF radiotelephone apparatus must be provided on every cargo ship of between 300-500 tons gross tonnage. Portable two-way VHF radiotelephones must be stowed in such locations that they can be rapidly placed in any survival craft other than life rafts required by Regulation III/26.1.4 of the SOLAS Convention. (The SOLAS Convention can be purchased from International Maritime Organization (IMO), Publications, International Maritime Organization, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR, United Kingdom; telephone 011 44 71 735 7611, www.imo.org.) Alternatively, survival craft may be fitted with a fixed two-way VHF radiotelephone installation. Two-way VHF radiotelephone apparatus, portable or fixed, must conform to performance standards as specified in §80.1101.

(b) At least one radar transponder or AIS-SART (collectively, “search and rescue locating devices”) must be carried on each side of every passenger ship and every cargo ship of 500 tons gross tonnage and upwards. At least one search and rescue locating device must be carried on every cargo ship of 300 tons gross tonnage and upwards but less than 500 tons gross tonnage. Such search and rescue locating devices must conform to performance standards as specified in §80.233 for AIS-SARTs or §80.1101 for radar transponders. The search and rescue locating devices must be stowed in such locations that they can be rapidly placed in any survival craft other than liferafts required on cargo ships in forward and aft areas (see Regulation III/26.1.4 of the SOLAS Convention). Alternatively, one search and rescue locating device must be stowed in each survival craft other than those required by Regulation III/26.1.4 of the SOLAS Convention. One of these search and rescue locating devices may be the search and rescue locating device required by §80.1085(a)(3).

(c) Survival craft equipment must be tested at intervals not to exceed twelve months. For batteries used for survival craft equipment, the month and year of its manufacture must be permanently marked on the battery. Also, the month and year upon which 50 percent of its useful life will expire must be permanently marked on both the battery and the outside of the transmitter. Batteries must be replaced if 50 percent of their useful life has expired or if the transmitter has been used in an emergency situation.

[57 FR 9065, Mar. 16, 1992, as amended at 73 FR 4490, Jan. 25, 2008; 81 FR 90748, Dec. 15, 2016]