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My modules›M15 Law and watchkeeping›2. Spain: navigation zones, required equipment and documents

Spain: navigation zones, required equipment and documents

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Law and watchkeeping

Required safety equipment by zone

Farther offshore, you must carry more safety gear. Missing or out-of-date items are serious offences, fined item by item.

Decide

Question 1/1

What is the minimum lifejacket buoyancy for a boat sailing in zone 3?

The lesson in plain words

  1. Lifejackets and lifebuoys
    • Carry at least one lifejacket per person, with a light.
    • In zones 4–7, lights are optional for boats sailing only by day.
    • Zone 1 needs one spare jacket.
    • Children and babies need jackets matching their weight.
    • Buoyancy is upward support, measured in newtons (N).
    • Minimum ratings: 275 N in zone 1, 150 N in zones 2–4, 100 N in zones 5–7.
    • Zones 1–4 need a lifebuoy with light and line; zone 1 adds a second lifebuoy.
  2. Liferaft and flares
    • Zones 1–3 need a liferaft for everyone on board.
    • Farther offshore, you need more distress signals.
    • Zone 1: 6 hand flares, 6 red parachute rockets and 2 floating smoke signals.
    • Zones 2–3: 6, 6 and 1. Zone 4: 3 hand flares and 3 rockets. Zones 5–6: 3 hand flares.
    • Out-of-date flares count as missing.
  3. Navigation gear
    • Carry the RIPA (Spain's COLREG) lights, shapes and sound signals, a foghorn and an anchor line at least five times boat length.
    • In every zone carry a national flag, waterproof torch with spare batteries, radar reflector (non-metal hulls), and rescue-signal and flag tables if radio is fitted.
    • Zones 1–4 add a compass, charts, publications and binoculars.
    • Category A/B boats with an enclosed cabin used for steering or navigation need those four items even in zones 5–7.
  4. Fire
    • A CE boat follows its owner's manual for extinguishers; keep it aboard.
    • If it gives no requirements, use the national length-and-power table, as non-CE boats do.
  5. Bilge
    • Bilge pumps remove water collecting inside the hull.
    • Zones 1–3: one manual and one powered pump, plus two 5-litre buckets.
    • Zones 4–6: a manual or electric pump and one 5-litre bucket.
    • Zone 7: a pump, or a 2-litre bailer for boats up to 6 m with buoyancy chambers.
    • Sailing boats in zones 1–6 need a fixed manual pump operable from the cockpit with hatches and interior accesses shut.
  6. Radio
    • RD 1185/2006 sets radio carriage.
    • VHF is very high frequency radio.
    • DSC is digital selective calling.
    • EPIRB is a satellite distress beacon. Zones 6–7: none required.
    • Zone 5: fixed VHF or IPX7 waterproof handheld. Zone 4: fixed VHF.
    • Zones 1–3: fixed DSC VHF and 406 MHz EPIRB; zones 1–2 require automatic/manual beacon activation.
    • Zone 2 adds a handheld VHF or 9 GHz radar transponder (a radar locating device).
    • Zone 1 needs both, plus an approved satellite ship station or DSC-capable MF/HF radio (medium/high frequency).

Key data

Lifejacket buoyancy
Zone 1: 275 N · zones 2–4: 150 N · zones 5–7: 100 N
Liferaft
Zones 1, 2 and 3, for everyone on board
Hand flares / rockets / smoke
Z1: 6/6/2 · Z2–3: 6/6/1 · Z4: 3/3/0 · Z5–6: 3/0/0
Anchor line
At least 5 × the boat's length
Fines (examples, RD 339/2021)
€200–250 per lifejacket, €100–150 per flare

Key points

  • Lifejackets: one per person; 275/150/100 N by zone; zone 1 adds a spare. Lights optional in zones 4–7 for day-only boats.
  • Liferaft in zones 1–3; lifebuoy with light and line in zones 1–4.
  • Flares: zone 4 needs 3 hand flares and 3 parachute rockets; zones 5–6 need 3 hand flares.
  • VHF: fixed in zone 4, fixed or IPX7 handheld in zone 5, none required in zones 6–7.
  • CE extinguishers: follow the manual and keep it aboard. If it gives no requirements, use the national length-and-power table.

Check what you have read

Question 1/3

Which zones require a liferaft?

True or false?

Decide each statement before you see the answer.

  1. A handheld VHF is enough everywhere within 12 NM.

  2. CE extinguishers: follow the manual and keep it aboard. If it gives no requirements, use the national length-and-power table.

  3. VHF: fixed in zone 4, fixed or IPX7 handheld in zone 5, none required in zones 6–7.

  4. Flares: zone 4 needs 3 hand flares and 3 parachute rockets; zones 5–6 need 3 hand flares.

  5. Lifejacket lights are optional on every small boat.

  6. Expired flares still count, because they usually work.

Practice case & exam keys

Situation

You are preparing an 8 m category C boat for zone 4 with six people, by day only. All other gear is compliant. You find six 100 N lifejackets without lights, an unlit lifebuoy with line, three hand flares and only a handheld VHF. What must you correct before departure?

Show the answer

Replace the six lifejackets with 150 N models. Their lights are optional because the boat sails only by day in zone 4. Add a light to the lifebuoy and three red parachute rockets. Fit a fixed VHF; the handheld alone does not meet zone 4.

Exam keys

  1. Lifejackets: 1 per person plus light (light optional in zones 4–7 by day only); zone 1 one extra.
  2. Liferaft zones 1–3; lifebuoy with light and line zones 1–4.
  3. Zone 4 signals: 3 hand flares and 3 parachute rockets; zones 5–6: 3 hand flares.
  4. Anchor line ≥ 5 × length; chain at least the boat's length unless the boat is 6 m or less.

Finish this unit

When you've read it, answer three questions. Get all three right to finish the unit; opening the page alone doesn't count.

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