Hatecke, one of the leading manufacturer of lifeboats for cruise ship newbuildings, has received a Type Approval Certificate for its PEL14 lifeboat from RINA.
The company claimed that this is the biggest and most space saving lifeboat ever built.
Designed and built at the company’s yard in Drochtersen about 60 km west of Hamburg, the PEL14 has a capacity for 462 pax, more than three times the limit than the market average.
Design, drawing appraisal and prototype test performance were approved and/or witnessed by RINA.
Approval of Hatecke’s lifeboat was granted using the regulatory framework of the SOLAS Alternative Design Assessment, instead of the prescriptive requirements.
The advanced solutions met and even exceeded the functional requirements set out in the rules, the company claimed.
It has innovative features, as the bright double deck lifeboat provides a habitable and well-conditioned environment for all seats on board. With its redundant propulsion and safety systems, this lifeboat defines a new standard of lifesaving in the cruise industry, the company said. Thanks to the three entry points the lifeboat can be fully boarded in the record time of less than three minutes.
Hinnerk Hatecke, the lifeboat’s designer, said “We are proud to receive RINA’s type approval certification for our PEL14 lifeboat. It is an award for our continuous effort to partner the ever changing cruise industry with the most innovative technical solutions. Our PEL14 even exceeded our own expectations.”
Piero Moncheroni, RINA’s Senior Technician for Passenger Ship Safety based in Hamburg, said “Hatecke’s lifeboat ‘alternative design’, not only is compliant with SOLAS, but exceeds the requirements. RINA has strengthened its presence in Germany to support Northern European clients in the most effective and responsive way. We are proud to have been able to do so for Hatecke with our highly qualified experts and surveyors from the company’s Passenger Centre of Excellence who fulfilled this challenging task by applying the best of their knowledge.”
