INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA. 263 



Article XXXIII. 



PONTOON RAFTS. 



No type of pontoon raft may be approved unless it satisfies the following conditions: 



1. It should be reversible and fitted with bulwarks of wood, canvas or other suitable 

 material on both sides. These bulwarks may be collapsible. 



2. It should be of such size, strength and weight that it can be handled without me- 

 chanical appliances, and, if necessary, be thrown from the vessel's deck. 



3. It should have not less than 85 cubic decimeters (equivalent to 3 cubic feet) of air 

 cases or equivalent buoyancy for each person whom it can accommodate. 



4. It shoidd have a deck area of not less than 3,720 square centimeters (equivalent to 4 

 square feet) for each person whom it can accommodate and the platfonn should not be less 

 than 15 centimeters (equivalent to 6 inches) above the water level when the raft is loaded. 



5. The air cases or equivalent buoyancy should be placed as near as possible to the sides 

 of the raft. 



Article XXXIV. 



CAPACITY OF BOATS AND PONTOON RAFTS. 



1. The number of persons which a boat of one of the standard types or a pontoon raft 

 can accommodate is equal to the greatest whole number obtained by dividing the capacity in 

 cubic meters (or cubic feet), or the surface in square meters (or square feet), of the boat or 

 of the raft by the standard unit of capacity, or unit of surface (according to circumstances), 

 defined below for each type. 



2. The cubic capacity in meters of a boat in which the number of persons is deter- 

 . mined by the surface shall be assumed to be 0.283 times the number of persons which it 



is authorized to carry. 



3. The standard units of capacity and surface are as follows : 



Equivalent in 

 Unit of capacity Cubic meters cubic feet. 



Open boats, type lA. 0.283 10 



Open boats, type IB. 0.255 ' 9 



~ Equivalent in 



Unit of surface. Square meters square feet. 



'2 



Open boats, type 2 A. "I 



Pontoon boats, type 2C. 1 0.325 3^^ 



Pontoon boats, type IC. ~1 



Pontoon boats, type 2B. J " 



4. The Government of each High Contracting Party may accept, in place of 0.302 

 (3^), a smaller divisor, if it is satisfied after trial that the number of persons for whom 

 there is seating accommodation in the pontoon boat in question is greater than the number 

 obtained by applying the above divisor, provided always that the divisor adopted in place of 

 0.302 (3M) may never be less than 0.279 (3). 



The Government which accepts a lower divisor in this way shall commimicate to the Gov- 

 ernments of the other Contracting Parties particulars of the trial and drawings of the pon- 

 toon boat in question. 



