A Review of the Free-Fall Lifeboat During Its Launching from a Moving Ship

Free-fall lifeboat (FFLB) launch is necessary for safe marine evacuation, especially for fast leave extreme maritime accidents. This study presents a retrospective review of the FFLB launch by content analysis approaches. The overview and legal foundation of FFLB for evaluating dynamic response criteria is investigated. The classify the existing method for assessment of the dynamic motion of FFLB during launching and after water entry is studied. The effects of skid angle and skid height on the water entry impact of lifeboat design are analyzed and discussed. Skid angle and skid height have a significant effect on the trajectory and the acceleration of the FFLB, it is especially important to determine these influencing parameters, because it can help the FFLB to move away from the hazardous area and reduce the risk of an accident during launch. Further research is needed in the topics of the performance of FFLB during the evacuation process such as examination of the best dropping angle and safe seat orientation for each possible FFLB's launch task under disruptive environmental conditions.