A life raft is an inflatable boat designed to save people when a ship sinks or an aircraft crashes into water. These rafts stay packed in small containers until an emergency happens, then they inflate automatically or with a quick pull of a cord, expanding into a floating platform that can hold multiple people above the waves.

Modern life rafts often include survival supplies like water, emergency flares, first aid kits, and sometimes fishing gear. They're usually bright orange or yellow so rescue teams can spot them easily from helicopters or planes. Many rafts have a canopy to help protect survivors from sun, wind, and rain during what might be days of waiting for rescue.

The Titanic disaster in 1912 changed maritime law forever: the ship carried only enough lifeboats for about half its passengers, and more than 1,500 people died in the freezing Atlantic. After that tragedy, international regulations required ships to carry enough lifeboats for everyone aboard. Today, every passenger ship, cargo vessel, and many airplanes that fly over oceans must have life rafts ready for emergencies.

When people talk about a life raft in everyday conversation, they sometimes mean anything that saves you from disaster: a friend might be your life raft during a tough school year, or savings might be a family's life raft during hard times.