Lifeboats as Designated Rescue Boats.

I feel designating one of the davit launched lifeboat as rescue boat is one of the cruelest jokes onboard a modern ship.

We know davit launched lifeboats are risky to launch and recover and to use such an equipment for search and rescue is simply asking for trouble with fatal consequences.

Davits with 2 hooks are extremely difficult to hook back even in good calm sea conditions , imagine managing that heavy block in 2 meter swell close to the curvature of the aft hull .

Now imagine who can maneuver that lifeboat which is so buoyant close to the hull and do this job?.

The openings on these boats are very small and to rescue someone through that opening is very difficult, I have practical experience on retrieving a lost fender and in the calm sea conditions we could not get close or pick it up, after too many tries we managed to retrieve that.

This needs to be addressed if someone is serious about search and rescue, there must be a standalone dedicated fast rescue boat which can be launched with one hook arrangement.

Your views please.