Safety equipment on board: expiry dates and service intervals

Overview

Flares

The date printed on the flare is the one that counts. In the US, 33 CFR 175.125 bars using a boat whose required signals are past their marked date, and hand red flares may carry an expiry date of at most 42 months after manufacture. The German question catalogue for the pyrotechnics licence gives at most 3 years unless the item says otherwise.

Disposing of expired flares

• UK: HM Coastguard no longer takes expired flares from private owners. Take them back where you bought them, or to a marina, liferaft service, local authority or waste disposal business that accepts them. Never dump them at sea or on land; the RYA notes that setting them off outside an emergency is illegal.
• Germany: return them through the dealer or hand them to a disposal company, and never use them as fireworks (FKN question catalogue).
• Elsewhere: ask the dealer or the local authority.

Inflatable lifejackets

There is no single interval; it depends on the manufacturer. Spinlock recommends a professional service every two years and a full self-inspection every year. Crewsaver says all its lifejackets must be serviced annually at an approved service station. Secumar's manual puts the due date on the service label on the jacket.

The firing mechanism has its own date. Hammar MA1 heads need no service but must be replaced after their five-year expiry date or when the indicator shows red. Halkey-Roberts prints the expiry date on the bobbin. Crewsaver says to replace the capsule per the date shown on it or once it has been fired.

Fire extinguishers

In the US, extinguishers on recreational boats must not be expired or appear used (33 CFR 175.310, in force since 20 April 2022). Disposable extinguishers carry a label saying they must be removed from service within 12 years of manufacture.

In Germany, the two-year maintenance by a competent person comes from ASR A2.2, which covers workplaces. It does not apply to private boats as such; for those, the manufacturer's instructions on the extinguisher apply.

EPIRBs, PLBs and hydrostatic releases

• Registration (US): NOAA requires the beacon registration to be renewed every 2 years.
• Battery: beacon batteries have a limited life; ACR gives roughly 5 to 10 years depending on the model. Replace the battery by the date the manufacturer specifies for your unit, through the manufacturer or an authorised service.
• Hydrostatic release: a Hammar H20 must be replaced 2 years after the month it was installed on board.

Liferafts

Service intervals are set by the manufacturer. VIKING recommends servicing its RescYou leisure liferaft every 3 years; Ocean Safety states 3 years for its Ocean ISO raft (2.5 years for SOLAS B).

Never miss a date

Photograph the flare box, the lifejacket's service label or the extinguisher's label: Seaworthy reads the expiry date on the device and sets a reminder with lead time, for example 60, 30 and 7 days before. The item stays in the logbook with every replacement.