Training center lifesaving appliances

The Training Center & facilities

All PALFINGER trainings consist of theoretical and practical lessons. The participants need to get hands-on experience – therefore, the training facility is equipped with a wide selection of PALFINGER and multi-brand mock-ups.

Advantages of the Training Center:

• PALFINGER MARINE can conduct its own in-house authorization training
• It allows for a quick response time in case extra product training is needed
• It’s a meeting place for service engineers from various PALFINGER service stations where they can exchange tips & tricks.

A DNV-certified maritime training center

The Training Center was founded in 2004, when a small group of technical managers at PALFINGER created an ‘Authorization Program’ for service engineers. This was one of the requirements in order to comply with the guidelines mentioned in an IMO circular MSC.1/Circ.1206 Rev.1 ‘Measures to prevent accidents with Lifeboats’.

In 2006, the first training programs for PALFINGER service engineers and service partners’ technicians were developed. The target audience still primarily consists of these two groups – with the addition of a few service coordinators.

In 2020, with the introduction of IMO Resolution MSC.402(96) ‘Requirements for maintenance, thorough examination, operational testing, overhaul and repair of lifeboats and rescue boats, launching appliances and release gear’, we have updated our training program in accordance with the regulations.

PALFINGER MARINE also provides Operator/Preventive Maintenance Trainings to customers and LSA Familiarization Trainings to Class societies (such as Lloyd’s Register, DNV-GL) and Port State inspectors of Paris MoU.

Operator & Preventive Maintenance Training (on board)

The training is usually conducted on board the customer’s vessel/platform where the actual equipment can be used for training. Training days consist of a practical and a theoretical part. During the practical part, participants familiarize themselves with the equipment and perform a lifeboat launching procedure.

After successful completion of the course, participants can …

• … explain and demonstrate the safe working principle of the PALFINGER LSA equipment in accordance with the manufacturer’s Operator & Maintenance manual.
• … recognize the critical parts that need attention during preventive maintenance of the LSA equipment
• … explain the risk of improper use of LSA equipment

Examples of equipment combinations that customers are trained on:

• N-type Davit/LBT Lifeboat/JX-1 Hook system
• VIP Davit/W-winch/MPC Lifeboat/LHRM2 Hook system

LSA Basic (initial)

This is the first authorization training for PALFINGER service engineers. After successful completion of the authorization training, the service engineers receive a certificate valid for the duration of three years. In order to maintain the authorization, service engineers need to attend the LSA Advanced Training before the certificate expires.

After successful completion of the LSA Basic Training, participants can:

• … practice professional work conduct
• … assess LSA equipment in accordance with rules & regulations
• … measure and evaluate acceptance criteria of LSA equipment
• … apply tips & tricks learned to disassemble/assemble LSA equipment
• … document the job outcome in the service report
• … explain working principles and purpose of the design

The Basic (initial) Training complies with chapter 8 ‘Requirements for Certification of Personnel’ of the MSC.402(96) ‘Requirements for maintenance, thorough examination, operational testing, overhaul and repair of lifeboats and rescue boats, launching appliances and release gear’.

LSA Basic (continued)

A lot of brands can be counted under the PALFINGER umbrella. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to cover all products. However, a selection of active/important products were included into the training contents:

The (theoretical) training modules are set up as follows:

• working principles and purpose of the design
• relevant rules & regulations that apply
• differences/acceptance criteria of the design

In the ‘Hydraulic Introduction’ module, service engineers are trained on the basic hydraulic working principle, recognizing parts and how to read a hydraulic diagram.

LSA Advanced (refresher training)

Before their authorization certificate expires, service engineers need to attend the Advanced training to get re-certified for another three years.

The training consists of a recap of the product training alongside updates on products and procedures. Hydraulic training is an important part of the program as well.

Multi-Brand Basic & Advanced

Since 2011, Multi Brand Basic and Multi Brand Advanced trainings are available for PALFINGER service engineers. Attendees need to have successfully completed their authorization training and have several years of experience in servicing PALFINGER LSA equipment.

As with the authorization trainings, the focus is on the working principle, acceptance criteria and tips & tricks of other OEM’s LSA equipment. It also includes multi-brand relevant rules & regulations.

The Multi Brand Trainings comply with IMO Resolution MSC.402(96) ‘Requirements for maintenance, thorough examination, operational testing, overhaul and repair of lifeboats and rescue boats, launching appliances and release gear’ in general and more specifically with chapter 3 ‘authorization’, 7 ‘requirements for authorization service providers’ and 8 ‘Requirements for Certification of Personnel’.