A liferaft with a current service certificate can still fail an inspection. The two dates are checked separately.

One of the more frustrating Port State Control deficiencies is also one of the most avoidable. A vessel presents a liferaft with a valid shore service certificate, and the inspector writes it up anyway, because the hydrostatic release unit fitted to the cradle has expired.

The two items have separate validity. The raft service certificate covers the raft. The HRU carries its own expiry, and on disposable units that expiry is printed on the body. An inspector checks both dates independently, and an expired HRU is a deficiency regardless of how recently the raft itself was serviced.

The confusion is understandable. A raft that came back from the service station last month feels finished. But unless the HRU was replaced or serviced as part of that attendance — and it is not always included by default — its clock is still running on its original date.

The practical fix is to track HRU expiry as a separate line in the planned maintenance system rather than as a sub-item of the raft service. When a raft goes ashore, confirm in writing whether the HRU is being replaced, and check that the returned unit's date is the one you expected.

The same principle applies more widely across life saving appliances. Pyrotechnics, EPIRB batteries and immersion suits all carry their own dates, and none of them is covered by a certificate issued for something else.