This Hallberg Rassy 40 was surveyed at the Hornet Services Sailing Club in Gosport. She had been cruised extensively and continually maintained and updated by her very experienced owner since purchasing her several years ago.
Vessels over 20 years old
Hallberg Rassy 40 Keel
Insurance surveys or insurance renewal surveys are usually required by the insurance underwriters for vessels over 20 years old. An updated survey is required thereafter either every 3 years or every 5 years. While some owners are surprised by this requirement, it is considerably less onerous than an annual MOT for a car, which is due after 3 years.
It could be argued that any vessel has considerably more complexity than a car, and this is a fairly minimalistic approach to professionally check for any key structural and safety issues.
Many owners are not aware of this requirement, and while some insurance brokers do flag this up in a timely manner to their clients, others do not. It is clearly included within the ‘small print’ and an insurance policy will not be valid without an up-to-date insurance survey report, with all the recommendations attended to.
No insurer can possibly help you mitigate against all accidents – such as hitting another vessel or a grounding, they can however ensure that the vessel is structurally sound and adequately equipped to deal with any common emergencies, such as a fire onboard the vessel.
Our insurance renewal surveys, and survey reports have been continually amended and revised over several years and are carefully tailored to provide the key information to the insurance underwriters – in a concise survey report.
Structural integrity and safety
The scope of the insurance renewal survey report concentrates on the structural integrity of the vessel and the key safety related items. It is therefore less lengthy and by definition less detailed than one might expect for a pre-purchase survey report.
They can also omit certain non-critical elements (such as water systems, accommodation condition, heating and refrigeration systems etc) that one would expect to be included on a pre-purchase survey report and
Safety items
Example of corroded seacock
Often it is the safety related items that get flagged as requiring attention. Most frequently the items that are included in the recommendations to be addressed include corroded or dezincified seacock fittings, ABC dry powder fire extinguishers, lifesaving equipment and the gas system.
Seacocks are often manufactured from CW617N brass, a sub-standard alloy compared with DZR, bronze or reinforced composite seacocks such as those made by Tru-Design.
Many owners are not aware that all ABC dry powder fire extinguishers have a 5-year replacement interval, due to the powder potentially starting to stick.
These dry powder fire extinguishers are therefore due for replacement at 5 years, regardless of whether the pressure gauge remains within the green sector – as this only confirms pressure is retained but does not guarantee that the powder is “fluid” and ready to be discharged effectively.
This Hallberg Rassy 40 was in superb condition, and unusually, still with original teak decks with very little wear. Internally, she had been very well looked after, and the resulting insurance survey report only had two (safety related) recommendations which was a real credit to her diligent owner.
An insurance renewal survey inspects the structure and the vessel’s safety systems, such as the gas and the fire fighting systems and others
Please do contact us to discuss your survey requirements.