The Office of Investigation and Casualty Analysis issued Marine Safety Alert 03-18 to warn mariners to be on the lookout for possible adhesive failures on immersion suits.

During a recent inspection, U.S. Coast Guard Port State Control examiners discovered a significant flaw involving almost all of a vessel’s immersion suits. The examiners noted that the glue used to attach the main zipper to the body of the suit had failed. Failure of the suit at this location will prevent the suit from achieving a watertight seal. Such conditions present a serious risk to crewmembers in a survival situation. Due to the high failure rate discovered during the Coast Guard exam (35 out of 40 suits were defective), the Coast Guard strongly recommends that vessel operators inspect their immersion suits for this potential unsafe condition. Do not wait to discover the problem during a real emergency. As a reminder, any replacement survival suits need to be approved by the vessel’s Flag State.

Distributed by the Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis, Washington, D.C. Questions may be sent to HQS-PF-fldr-CG-INV@uscg.mil.

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