Water ingress in immersion suits: UK21/L009
Adopted EU recommendation LSA-018. UK approved recommendation on the testing standards of immersion suits.
Question
IMO Res. MSC. 81(70) Part 1, 3.1.9, states “the ingress of water into the immersion suit should not exceed a mass of 500g”. However, this does not consider the scenario in which the body inside the suit remains dry, but the material traps water in excess of 500g. Furthermore, it is identified that the IMO testing standard does not specify any standing time to permit excess water to run off the exterior prior to water weight measurement.
In the above scenario, would the immersion suit be considered compliant with testing standards?
Recommendation
No. In any case the ingress of water into the immersion suit or anti-exposure suit should not exceed a mass of 500g in accordance with the existing text of MSC 81(70) Part 1 Section 3.1.9.
In the scenario described above, the UK Approved Body and manufacturer may make a professional judgement and may make use of international industry accepted test methods, i.e., the Leakage Test procedures described in EN ISO 15027-3 [footnote 1].
References
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MSC. 81(70)
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MSN 1874 as amended
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The Merchant Shipping (Marine Equipment) Regulations 2016 as amended
Items affected
- UK/1.5, Immersion suits and anti-exposure suits designed to be worn in conjunction WITH a lifejacket.
More information
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Bay 2/21
Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG
Telephone: +44 (0) 203 817 2000
Email: MEQA@mcga.gov.uk
Website: www.gov.uk/mca
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The standard is applicable in the version as set out in the valid Implementing Regulation. ↩