Battery failure on lifejacket light

  • Safety Flash
  • Published on 1 March 2001
  • Generated on 23 August 2026
  • IMCA SF 03/01
  • 1 minute read

One of our Members has reported that on one of their vessels they found that the battery to the lifejacket had swelled out, resulting in a ruptured battery.

The maker of the battery is McMurdo and the expiry date was January 2002. Below is a picture of the ruptured battery.

Ruptured battery on lifejacket

When the member alerted its other vessels to this failure, another vessel reported that on checking its lifejackets, two lifejacket lights were found in a similar condition to that above. The expiry dates for their batteries were August 2001 and May 2003.

The member is now in discussions with the manufacturer on this issue.

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