Classification society Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore (BV) has issued a formal Review Attestation for Survitec’s Seahaven evacuation system, confirming its status as a novel life-saving appliance (LSA) under IMO Resolution A.520(13). The attestation recognises Seahaven’s position as an innovative safety evacuation solution for high-capacity passenger vessels, such as cruise ships, highlighting a key turning point in maritime safety.
Bureau Veritas SVP for Western Europe and Americas, David Barrow (right), presents Robert Kledal, Chief Executive Officer, Survitec, with the Review Attestation for Seahaven, the world’s largest inflatable lifeboat.
Developed by Survitec, a global leader in Survival Technology, the Seahaven system is engineered to evacuate up to 1,060 persons in less than 22 minutes through a fully integrated arrangement of two survival crafts and four helical slides. For the purpose of the attestation, BV conducted an extensive technical review of Seahaven’s design, documentation, performance testing, and supporting calculations to help ensure compliance with relevant regulations and requirements. This process included analysis of key design features and performance parameters.
Seahaven’s design allows for rapid boarding via vertical helical slides, which have been rigorously tested with passengers, including infants, children, and individuals with reduced mobility. Each survival craft has a capacity of 530 persons and is powered by twin SOLAS and MED-approved diesel outboard engines. The system demonstrated full compliance with evacuation and performance tests, including deployment in heavy weather conditions with sea states equivalent to Beaufort Force 6 and 3-meter wave heights.
Matthieu de Tugny, President of Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore, said, “The Seahaven system introduces a powerful solution for passenger evacuation, meeting evolving maritime safety needs and paving the way for wider adoption. Safety is always our first priority. BV is pleased to support stakeholders, like Survitec, to help make sure innovations align with global safety standards.”
Claude Sada, Chief Operating Officer at Survitec, emphasised the importance of the attestation in accelerating regulatory engagement and industry adoption, “The endorsement by BV validates years of engineering, operational testing, and consultation with ship owners and yards.
“This attestation is a milestone to broader market readiness,” Sada added. “It affirms not just the technical integrity of the system, but its relevance to ship operators who need smarter, safer solutions that reduce complexity and improve survivability.”
The system’s modular footprint allows for flexible installation on both newbuild and retrofit platforms, with a permitted installation height of up to 28 meters. The attestation confirmed the craft’s endurance at 6 knots for 24 hours and the ability to tow a second fully loaded craft at 3 knots. Additional tests validated environmental resilience in both hot and cold extremes.
Survitec has developed extensive training plans, service documentation, and lifecycle support infrastructure to accompany Seahaven’s deployment, aligning with SOLAS Regulation III/20 for maintenance and periodic inspection.
Survitec is actively engaging with its customers and shipyards to advance Seahaven into early implementation projects.
BV’s validation of Seahaven’s capabilities follows a study by naval architects Foreship, recently presented at Seatrade Cruise Global 2025 in Miami. This study highlights the advantages of incorporating Seahaven into cruise ship designs, particularly in improving space utilisation, enhancing cost efficiency, and offering weight benefits.
Download the white paper detailing the study here
About Survitec
Survitec is a global Survival Technology leader to the maritime, defence & government, aerospace and energy sectors. Survitec has over 3,000 employees worldwide, covering 11 manufacturing facilities and over 400 service centres. They operate in over 2,000 ports, spanning 96 countries. Survitec are the world’s largest manufacturer and supplier of liferaft, Marine Evacuation Systems (MES) and offshore rental PPE. They are a leading supplier of fire solutions to the maritime industry and hold a market leading position for Pilot Flight Equipment in the aerospace & defence market. The Survitec team live by their purpose “We Exist to Protect Lives”. Throughout its 168-year history, Survitec has remained at the forefront of innovation, design and application engineering and is the trusted name when it comes to critical safety and survival solutions. www.survitecgroup.com
