The guide to Superyacht law - Fourth edition

HELICOPTERS The use of helicopters on superyachts is becoming a commonmeans of allowing guests to join the superyacht at their convenience. Access to a helicopter is also invaluable in an emergency and it is therefore important to consider at an early stage in the design process, whether a helideck should be incorporated on the superyacht. With regard to commercial superyachts, ‘touch and go’ helidecks also have to fully comply with legislation. Touch and go helidecks which do not comply are illegal. Howmuch space will I need for a helideck? • The helicopter landing area should be designed for the largest helicopter which it is intended to use. It should be large enough to contain a circle of diameter ‘D’ equal to the largest dimension of the helicopter when the rotors are turning. The ‘D’ circle should be totally unobstructed • This does not have to mean that the entire deck will be devoted to the helideck as the out-board edges of the landing area may be engineered to retract or fold to a closed position when the landing area is not in use, providing the overall safe landing area Does the helideck need to comply with any regulations? • Commercial superyachts seeking compliance with Large Yacht Code (LY3) or Passenger Yacht Code (PYC) require a Helicopter Landing Area Certificate (HLAC) to be issued by an aviation inspection body recognised by the relevant flag • While a pleasure superyacht does not need to comply with the aforementioned codes, many owners will build their helideck so that it does comply to maximise the superyacht’s resale value. Particularly important, should a future owner wish to register the superyacht as a commercial superyacht or the owner wants to charter their superyacht

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