A deck officer or certificated person must be placed in charge of each survival craft to be used, and a deck officer or certificated person must be assigned as second-in-command of a lifeboat.
In ships of Classes II, II(A) and III, a person practised in the handling and operation of liferafts may be placed in charge of a liferaft in lieu of a deck officer or certificated person. A motor lifeboat must have a person assigned to it who is capable of operating the engine and carrying out minor adjustments; this person may be the coxswain if it is possible to operate the engine and steer the lifeboat from one position. A lifeboat with a radio installation and each survival craft in which are placed EPIRBs, SARTs or two-way R/T sets must have a person assigned to it capable of operating such equipment.
