Division 240 Safety of pleasure vessels

Information on French regulations

What is Division 240? You may have come across its name while learning the rules for your coastal boating licence. In France, Division 240 is a regulatory text relating to pleasure vessels and craft with a length of 24 metres or less. It defines the equipment and safety gear that must be kept on board.

Who is concerned?

Owners or renters, all skippers of French boats of this size are concerned, whether for personal use or training. Boats that do not fly the French flag, but whose owner is tax resident or has a registered office in France, must also refer to it.

Why Division 240?

Division 240 is designed to ensure, as far as possible, the safety of crew members on board a pleasure boat under way.

How?

The text establishes a list of compulsory and recommended equipment and sets the quantity of items to be kept on board, depending on the number of persons embarked, the type of vessel and the chosen navigation zone. Some equipment must comply with a standard, bear a marking attesting to a certain level of quality, or have an expiry date that has not passed.

Where?

The text is based on the principle that the further the sailing plan is from the coast, the more dangerous sailing can prove to be. Accordingly, the list of compulsory equipment and safety gear differs according to the intended navigation zone, and grows as one moves further away from a shelter. Four zones are distinguished:

• Basic, up to 2 nautical miles (nm) from a shelter
• Coastal, 2 to 6 nm from a shelter
• Semi-offshore, between 6 and 60 nm from a shelter
• Offshore, from 60 nm from a shelter to the open sea

The regulations also concern small craft such as tenders. The rule is specific to them: it states that the boater may not, with a tender, go more than 300 metres from a shelter. There is only one exception for sailing aboard them more than 300 metres from the coast: being within a 300-metre radius of the mother ship, which then counts as a shelter. In this case, the boater must have the appropriate safety equipment on board to be in good standing.

When?

The boater is always required to comply with the regulations. Failure to comply with Division 240 constitutes an offence and may lead to penalties.

Compulsory and recommended safety equipment, decoded

Personal flotation device (PFD)

This is what must keep a man overboard afloat! It may be a protective suit, a foam or inflatable lifejacket, with manual or automatic activation. It must comply with a standard, and its type and buoyancy must be suited to the user and the navigation zone. A PFD must be provided for each crew member on the boat but also in the tender, more than 300 metres from a shelter.

Light device

This is the safety equipment that allows you to be seen if you fall into the water! It may be a waterproof torch or a personal device attached to each lifejacket on board, such as an automatic flashing light, a light stick or Cyalume. The device, which must have a battery life of at least 6 hours, is compulsory on all boats and also in the tender more than 300 metres from a shelter.

Portable fire-fighting equipment

To be able to react in the event of a fire on board, portable fire-fighting equipment must be carried, i.e. one or more fire extinguishers and a fire blanket. The devices must comply with the standard and be placed judiciously in relation to potential hazards. Consult the boat's owner's manual to find out which equipment must be kept on board.

Manual bailing device

This is what is used to remove water from on board a vessel, particularly in the event of a leak!

It may be a simple bailer, a bucket, a hand pump or manual bilge pump. Even if the vessel is fitted with automatic bilge pumps, the skipper is required to have one of these, fixed or portable. The chosen device must be suited to the vessel's volume.

Towing device

To be helped and towed in the event of a problem, every boat must be fitted with a mooring point and a rope suitable for towing. The mooring point may simply be a cleat on the vessel's deck and the rope a flexible line, at least 50 metres long.

Anchor line

It is made up of an anchor, a chain and a rode. The skipper will choose it according to the planned anchorage areas, the conditions and the type of seabed. The anchor line is compulsory for all boats with a lightship mass of 250 kilograms or more or with an engine with a power of 6.1 horsepower or more.

Tide tables

In navigation zones subject to tides, the boater must carry a means of knowing the tide times and coefficients corresponding to the area frequented and the day of sailing concerned. Beyond 6 miles, carrying tide tables is compulsory.

National flag

It serves to indicate the vessel's country of registration and nationality, and it is therefore compulsory to fly it outside territorial waters. The size of the flag must be chosen according to the size of the boat.

Man-overboard locating and assistance device

This is the lifebuoy, which is thrown to a person who has fallen overboard after being securely attached! The skipper can choose their equipment from several models – horseshoe buoy, ring buoy or Silzig buoy – and will connect it to the boat by means of a floating rope.

3 red hand flares

In the event of distress, they allow a vessel's crew to signal themselves, be spotted by people nearby, and then be rescued. The expiry date of the devices carried must not have passed.

Magnetic compass

It allows you to find your bearings at sea: on the same principle as a hand compass, it indicates north thanks to the Earth's magnetic field. On board, it must be waterproof and compliant with standards. Within 6 miles of a shelter, it is not compulsory and can be replaced by a waterproof GPS with a compass function.

Nautical charts

They inform the boater about the navigation zone, give them the possibility of finding their bearings and checking that the trip at sea is going well. Nautical charts may be in paper or electronic format, and must cover the entire navigation zone frequented. They must also be official and up to date.

International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs / RIPAM)

This reference document sets out the rules of priority between vessels. The skipper is required to hold the up-to-date version of the RIPAM, in paper or electronic form, readable in that case on a suitable device on board. It also exists as a self-adhesive card to be placed in the boat's cockpit, and appears each year in an updated version in the Bloc Marine.

Description of the buoyage system

This is another compulsory document, which this time makes it possible to correctly interpret the buoyage of the navigation zone frequented by the vessel. It too can be carried in the format of your choice.

Liferaft

The liferaft makes it possible to leave the vessel when safety on board is no longer assured. Liferafts are stored in a bag or a PVC container and are triggered to inflate.

The boater will choose between a type 2 liferaft, suitable for coastal sailing, or type 1, for offshore sailing. The equipment must correspond to the vessel's category and the number of persons on board, so that everyone can be taken aboard if needed.

Position-fixing equipment

In order to sail in good conditions, a vessel's skipper must have the equipment needed to fix a position, plot and follow a course. When working on paper nautical charts, they will use a navigation ruler, a hand-bearing compass and a pair of dividers.

An electronic navigation system will not require any other equipment.

List of lights

Having the list of lights on board is also an obligation. This time, the publication describes all the signals and aids to navigation that the boater is likely to encounter. Here again, the skipper can choose the paper or digital format, but the version held must be up to date.

Logbook

This is the document kept by the captain on every voyage. It records notable events occurring on board, sailing conditions, precautionary measures taken or important manoeuvres carried out on board. The date, the details of the crew members, the port of departure and of arrival must be mentioned in it. In the event of damage, it is the logbook that makes it possible to trace the events that occurred on board.

Device for receiving weather bulletins

It ensures the crew's safety by allowing them to anticipate, and not to risk facing overly severe sailing conditions. To receive the weather on board their boat, the boater can use several devices: VHF, Navtex, SSB radio or satellite communication means.

Harness and tether

In heavy conditions, the harness and tether are used to attach yourself to the boat to stay safe on board. The harness consists of two shoulder straps and a waist strap, or is integrated into an inflatable lifejacket. The tether, for its part, is either plain or fitted with an elastic section. It is compulsory to have one harness and tether per non-sailing vessel, and one set per person on board a sailing boat.

First-aid kit compliant with article 240-2.16

The first-aid kit is compulsory beyond 6 miles from a shelter. It is the safety equipment that makes it possible, if needed, to provide first aid on board while waiting for help to arrive. Depending on the composition of the crew and the sailing plan in the coastal, semi-offshore or offshore zone, the skipper will supplement the first-aid kit to anticipate as far as possible the problems that may arise on their boat.

Light device for night search and location

Fixed or portable, this device must help locate a person overboard at night, without visibility.

The equipment must be waterproof.

Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB)

This is what, in the event of a problem, communicates the MMSI and the exact position of the boat to the rescue services, so that they can intervene accurately and as quickly as possible.

It is compulsory for offshore sailing and administratively linked to the vessel.

VHF

To be able to communicate effectively with the rescue services and send a distress call, the skipper is required to carry a fixed or handheld VHF. The handheld VHF may be floating. Some VHFs are also fitted with a Digital Selective Calling (DSC) system, which makes it possible to send a distress call and communicate the vessel's details by pressing a button for 5 seconds. Coupled with a GPS, a VHF fitted with a DSC system transmits the vessel's position precisely.

Together we have reviewed the compulsory or recommended safety items to take on board for your next trip at sea, depending on your navigation zone and sailing plan. If you still have questions about Division 240 and the equipment and safety gear to take on board for your next voyage, do not hesitate to contact the Bateau-immatriculation.com team!