An onboard davit assembly for launching a boat from a ship is disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the assembly includes two spaced apart davits, each davit including a substantially horizontal boom, a hoist cable extending downwards from a suspension frame on the boom and including at least one fixation device at its lower end to which the boat can be attached. In at least one embodiment, the assembly is arranged such that the booms are movable between an inward position wherein the suspension frames extend inboard and an outward position wherein the suspension frames extend outboard, wherein the booms extend from an onboard vertical pivot axis and can rotate in a horizontal plane around the pivot axis, and wherein the suspension frames are movable along the booms such that a distance between the suspension frames remains constant during rotation of the booms between the two positions when the boat is moved from a parking position to a launching position.