INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA. 271 



4. All the buoys shall be fitted with beckets securely seized. At least one buoy on each 

 side shall be fitted with a life line of at least 27.5 meters (15 fathoms) in length. The num- 

 ber of luminous buoys shall be not less than one-half of the total number of life buoys, and in 

 no case less than six. The lights shall be efficient self-igniting lights which cannot Ije ex- 

 tinguished in water, and they shall be kept near the buoys to which they belong, with the 

 necessary means of attachment. 



5. All the life buoys and life jackets shall be so placed as to be readily accessible to the 

 persons on board; their position shall be plainly indicated so as to be known to the persons 

 concerned. 



The life buoys shall always be capable of being rapidly cast loose, and shall not be per- 

 manently secured in any way. 



Article XLVI. 



exemptions applicable to existing vessels. 



The exemptions allowed in the case of existing vessels, as provided by Article 52 of the 

 Convention, are as follows : 



(o) Until the 1st January, 1920, boats and rafts which have been accepted by the Ad- 

 ministration of one of the Contracting States on board an existing vessel may be accepted, 

 respectively, in lieu of the lifeboats and pontoon life rafts prescribed by this Convention. 



(b) Until the 1st January, 1920, the requirements that pontoon lifeboats should have 

 the bottom and deck made in two thicknesses with textile material between, and that 

 they should have the minimum freeboard specified need not be insisted upon in the case of 

 pontoon boats accepted in accordance with the preceding paragraph (a). 



(c) In the case of vessels between 75 meters (245 feet) and 140 meters (460 feet) in 

 length, the minimum number of sets of davits may be reduced by one, below the figure 

 given in column B of the table in Article XLIII above. In the case of vessels of 140 meters 

 (460 feet) or more in length this number may be reduced by one on each side. These reduc- 

 tions shall only be allowed if proper provision is made for launching the boats. 



(d) The provisions of Articles 42 and 49 of the Convention, respecting the launching 

 of boats, shall not be applicable to existing vessels. 



Article XLVII. 

 certificated lifeboat men. 



In order to obtain the special lifeboat man's certificate provided for in Chapter VI, 

 Life Saving Appliances, Article 54, of the Convention, the applicant must prove that he has 

 been trained in all the operations connected with launching lifeboats and the use of oars; that 

 he is acquainted with the practical handling of the boats themselves; and, further, that he is 

 capable of understanding and answering the orders relative to lifeboat service. 



There shall be for each boat or raft a number of lifeboat men at least equal to that speci- 

 fied in the following table : 



