As the super and mega yachts, as well as smaller boats ( and yachts participating in the Arc ) are preparing their crossing of the Atlantic to the Antilles, some captains and crew are wondering how and if, they will be able to have their life rafts and other safety gear serviced in the Caribbean Islands while they cruise around for several months.
The Islander spoke with Anke Roosens, owner of the St.Martin based company LifeRaftsEtc.
Anke: “I started LifeRaftsEtc. in 2009 while I was working part time as a captain on the fast Jet ferries of Aquamania to St.Barth’s and Saba. I also worked as a relief captain on several large yachts and have done multiple deliveries from the Caribbean to Europe, South America and the USA.
Growing up in the Caribbean I had always been into sailing, surfing, diving and other water sports; I bought my own 32 ft sailboat when I was 16 and lived on board for the next 10 years.
Gradually, due to the increased workload with LifeRaftsEtc, I took on less and less deliveries and stopped working part time as a captain, so I have not sailed a lot during recent years, but Isure miss it .”
I am one of the Captains of the local French Sea Rescue SNSM; so I do get out on the water regularly to rescue others.
The Islander: “Why and how do you start a life raft service station?”
Anke: “ My mom was the owner of the Maritime School of the West Indies ( she sold the school recently ) and we always had problems finding life rafts to use during the STCW training courses. There was no one servicing rafts on the island so she had to send them off to neighbouring islands to get repacked. This was expensive and time consuming, and we figured it might be interesting to do it ourselves. I did a little ‘market research’ to see which brands of rafts were most prevalent on the local vessels; and then I went to do the compulsory training courses in Europe, ” Anke says. “Initially, many people in the local marine community advised me against opening a service station here; there had been one in Sandy Ground previously and they went bankrupt in 2007. I was told it would never work; that the investment was too high for too few returns, etc. ” “I started anyway; but I decided to start ‘small’; with just 2 brands (the initial investment is between 15000 and 25 000 euro per brand, for the initial training, the audits, specific tools, the minimum stock of spare parts, etc.) in a small workshop of 120m2 which just met the standards. ” “It worked well from the start; being a captain for years I had a very good reputation on the island and the customers knew that I took safety very seriously so they trusted me for all their survival gear.
Not only do we service the rafts of most of the Anguilla and St.Barth’s ferries, but also those of local charter boat operators, the 2 airports (Juliana and Grand Case) and others. LifeRaftsEtc. is also well known within the international “Cruisers” network and they come to St. Martin from all over the Caribbean to inspect their rafts at our facilities. Customers are always invited to be present when their rafts are being opened and this is much appreciated by those Cruisers who do not really know how “it works” and what their raft looks like.
Workspace
Anke: “The small workshop in Saint Martin’s Cul de Sac was no longer suitable after a while and in 2016 LifeRaftsEtc. moved in to its new 420m2 premises in Concordia Marigot. “Being a volunteer captain for the SNSM (French Side Saint Martin Sea Rescue) it was important for me to move closer to Marigot; because we have to leave the dock with our rescue vessel within 20 minutes of an MRCC emergency call, “she explains.
Therefore it took several years of searching; but in 2016 I was finally lucky enough to find an “adaptable” workspace in Concordia.
We then did a lot of work (my brother, my dad and myself) to restore this space and after passing all the mandatory audits we opened our doors there in June 2016 “.
Hurricane IRMA
“Sadly, during hurricane IRMA in September 2017, and like many companies on the Island, I lost my workshop but we were able to salvage most of the tools, stock and spare parts, so I was operational in October 2017 from a “temporary” location in Orient Bay; audited and exceptionally approved by Bureau Veritas, Maritime Affairs and the brands, to continue the (mandatory) raft inspections on the island. Because of this temporary workshop and the continued support of loyal local customers who had been able to save their ships, the company was able to stay afloat; and this despite a sharp decrease from visiting vessels that could not come back until the islands’ marinas had been rebuilt. We moved back in to our own building in March 2019.
We had a great season in 2019-2020 until March 2020 with the COVID-19 when travel was shut down all over the world. We remained open for business at all times but at the moment with the Covid virus situation we are less busy than usual. Hopefully with the mega yacht season coming up we’ll see many customers coming back. Quite a few yachts still want to do their yearly service whilst they are here; as they have got used to the superior, individualised service they get at Life Rafts Etc.; as well as most of the local vessels whom have not worked much over the past few months but have to service their rafts to remain compliant with regulations.
The Islander: “Are there strict controls from the authorities to avoid that non regulated people do life raft inspections?”
Anke: ”The workshop, technicians and all materials have to be inspected and approved by each life raft brand and by Bureau Veritas; so we get audited yearly by some and every 3 years by others.
Local authorities from both sides of the islands also conduct inspections and our workspace is fully compliant with ISO 9650, SOLAS and IMO regulations.
As we service multiple brands for which you need to do a training course separately and renew that every 3 years you can imagine that a life raft business is not something everyone can easily set up. It involves a lot of time and investment.
Unfortunately all over the world there are service stations that claim to be certified to do a certain life raft brand but it is often not the case. As a captain you should always verify on the brand’s web site of your life raft if a certain station is certified to do your life raft service because if that’s not the case the service will be invalid and in case of an accident insurance will not cover anything if they find out.
LifeRaftsEtc. is certified to do all the Survitec brands, Zodiac, Plastimo, RFD, Revere, Bombard, Crewsaver, Avon and many others but we will never service a life raft brand name for which we don’t have a license.
Liferafts Etc. is the only official serviced center authorized to service liferafts in Sint Maarten – Saint Martin for the brands listed on our web site www.LifeRaftsEtc.com . Our technicians are trained and certified by every brand we represent and attend the regular mandatory refresher training courses.
The Islander: “What about other safety equipment services?”
Anke: ”Again the same story, we have certifications for Jon Buoys, Life jackets, Immersion suits and much more and each brand has only a few certified stations where you can bring those.
The Islander: “How long does it takes to do a life raft inspection?”
Anke: ”A raft inspection takes on average about 4 to 6 hours (depending on size and age); it is essential to make an appointment (ideally at least 2 to 3 weeks in advance, especially if you or crew wish to be present during the opening of your raft). Life raft and other safety equipment inspections (lifejackets, beacons, survival suits, Jonbuoys, etc.) are mandatory every 12 months on professional vessels and every 3 years for pleasure crafts.
It is quite common for cruisers to show up with rafts that have never been inspected since they purchased them more than 5 years ago; and they are surprised when they learn in the presence of LifeRaftsEtc. technicians that if they had needed it in the event of an emergency their raft would never have opened because the firing head was completely corroded! It is therefore essential to have this safety equipment checked at the intervals stipulated by the manufacturers.
The Islander: “How do you see your future?”
Anke: “ Let’s hope that this virus goes away quickly and that everyone can get back to living & travelling “like normal”.
I do think that I am one of the lucky ones; whilst many businesses have folded due to this global pandemic we are hanging in there and still doing quite well; these inspections are mandatory so our clients have to do them regardless; therefore we always have work; which is a real blessing in these uncertain times.
Long term; I would like to sell the business eventually and perhaps work again as a part-time or relief captain. For the time being though; unless I get an amazing offer I will stick with what I’m doing and continue building my business!
