These prescribe that every fourth liferaft on board ro-ro passenger ships must be fitted with a SART.

The SART S.701 also corresponds to GMDSS rules introduced in 1995 stating that all vessels above 300gwt must carry at least one SART and those above 500gwt must carry at least two. The SART produces an instantly recognisable 12 dot radar return directing searching aircraft or passing vessels to survivors and casualties.

As anything packed within a liferaft must be drop tested to ensure it does not break or damage the liferaft, Viking has drop tested SARTs in a 100 person liferaft. Subsequent function testing was positive.

The S.701 is able to use non-hazardous battery packs because it is designed for exceptionally low power consumption. It can thus be shipped and deployed more cheaply than other SARTs because it is accepted for standard carriage, being exempt from the limits imposed on the transportation of hazardous goods.

MJ Information No: 20007