SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA PART F.-GENERAL FIRE PRECAUTIONS (Part F applies to passenger ships and cargo ships) (i) In and from all passenger and crew spaces and spaces in which crew are normally employed, other than machinery spaces, stairways and ladderways shall be arranged so as to provide ready means of escape to the lifeboat embarkation deck. In particular the following precautions shall be complied with: - (1) below the bulkhead deck, two means of escape, at least one of which shall be independent of watertight doors, shall be provided for each watertight compartment or similarly restricted space or group of spaces. One of these means of escape may be dispensed with by the Administration, due regard being paid to the nature and the location of spaces concerned, and to the number of persons who normally might be quartered or employed there; (2) above the bulkhead deck, there shall be at least two practical means of escape from each main vertical zone or similarly restricted space or group of spaces at least one of which shall give access to a stairway forming a vertical escape; (3) at least one of the means of escape shall be by means of a readily accessible enclosed stairway, which shall provide as far as practicable continuous fire shelter from the level of its origin to the lifeboat embarkation deck. The width, number and continuity of the stairways shall be to the satisfaction of the Administration. (ii) In machinery spaces, two means of escape, one of which may be a watertight door, shall be provided from each engine room, shaft tunnel and boiler room. In machinery spaces, where no watertight door is available, the two means of escape shall be formed by two sets of steel ladders as widely separated as possible leading to doors in the casing similarly separated and from which access is provided to the embarkation deck. In the case of ships of less than 2,000 tons gross tonnage, the Administration may dispense with this requirement, due regard being paid to the width and the disposition of the casing. Ch. 2 (b) Cargo Ships (i) In and from all crew and passenger spaces and spaces in which crew are normally employed, other than machinery spaces, stairways and ladders shall be arranged so as to provide ready means of escape to the lifeboat embarkation deck. (ii) In machinery spaces, the requirements of sub-paragraph (a) (ii) of this Regulation shall apply. Regulation 69 Means for Stopping Machinery and for Shutting Off Oil Fuel Suction Pipes (a) Means shall be provided for stopping ventilating fans serving machinery and cargo spaces and for closing all doorways, ventilators, annular spaces around funnels and other openings to such spaces. These means shall be capable of being operated from outside such spaces in case of fire. (b) Machinery driving forced and induced draught fans, oil fuel transfer pumps, oil fuel unit pumps and other similar fuel pumps shall be fitted with remote controls situated outside the space concerned so that they may be stopped in the event of a fire arising in the space in which they are located. (c) Every oil fuel suction pipe from a storage, settling or daily service tank situated above the double bottom shall be fitted with a cock or valve capable of being closed from outside the space concerned in the event of a fire arising in the space in which such tanks are situated. In the special case of deep tanks situated in any shaft or pipe tunnel, valves on the tanks shall be fitted but control in event of fire may be effected by means of an additional valve on the pipe line or lines outside the tunnel or tunnels. Regulation 70 Fire Control Plans In any passenger ship, and, as far as applicable in any cargo ship, there shall be permanently exhibited for the guidance of the ship's officers general arrangement plans showing clearly for each deck the control stations, the various fire sections enclosed by fire-resisting bulkheads, the sections enclosed by fire-retarding bulkheads (if any), together with particulars of the fire alarms, detecting systems, the sprinkler installation (if any), the fire extinguishing appliances, means of access to different compartments, decks, &c., and the ventilating system including particulars of the master fan controls, the positions of dampers and identification numbers of the ventilating fans serving each section. Alternatively, at the discretion of the Administration, the aforementioned details may be set out in a booklet, a copy of which shall be supplied to each officer, and one copy at all times shall be available on board in an accessible position. Plans and booklets shall be kept up-to-date, any alterations being recorded thereon as soon as practicable. SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA CHAPTER III.-LIFE-SAVING APPLIANCES, &c. Regulation 1 Application (a) This Chapter, except where it is otherwise expressly provided, applies as follows to new ships engaged on international voyages: Part A Passenger ships and cargo ships. Part B-Passenger ships. Part C Cargo ships. (b) In the case of existing ships engaged on international voyages and which do not already comply with the provisions of this Chapter relating to new ships, the arrangements in each ship shall be considered by the Administration with a view to securing, so far as this is practicable and reasonable, and as early as possible, substantial compliance with the requirements of this Chapter. The proviso to sub-paragraph (b) (i) of Regulation 27 of this Chapter may, however, be applied to existing ships only if: (i) the provisions of Regulations 4, 8, 14, 18 and 19, and paragraphs (a) and (b) of Regulation 27 of this Chapter are complied with; (ii) the liferafts carried in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (b) of Regulation 27 comply with the requirements of either Regulation 15 or Regulation 16, and of Regulation 17 of this Chapter; and (iii) the total number of persons on board shall not be increased as the result of the provision of liferafts. PART A.-GENERAL (Part A applies to both passenger ships and cargo ships) Regulation 2 (a) For the purposes of this Chapter the expression "short international voyage means an international voyage in the course of which a ship is not more than 200 miles from a port or place in which the passengers and crew could be placed in safety, and which does not exceed 600 miles in length between the last port of call in the country in which the voyage begins and the final port of destination. (b) For the purposes of this Chapter, the expression “liferaft' means a liferaft complying with either Regulation 15 or Regulation 16 of this Chapter. Ch. SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA (c) For the purposes of this Chapter, the expression "approved launching device" means a device approved by the Administration, capable of launching from the embarkation position a liferaft fully loaded with the number of persons it is permitted to carry and with its equipment. 99 (d) For the purposes of this Chapter, the expression "certificated lifeboatman means any member of the crew who holds a certificate of efficiency issued under the provisions of Regulation 32 of this Chapter. 99 (e) For the purposes of this Chapter, the expression "buoyant apparatus means flotation equipment (other than lifeboats, liferafts, lifebuoys and lifejackets) designed to support a specified number of persons who are in the water and of such construction that it retains its shape and properties. Regulation 3 (a) The Administration, if it considers that the sheltered nature and conditions of the voyage are such as to render the application of the full requirements of this Chapter unreasonable or unnecessary, may to that extent exempt from the requirements of this Chapter individual ships or classes of ships which, in the course of their voyage, do not go more than 20 miles from the nearest land. (b) In the case of passenger ships engaged on international voyages which are employed in the carriage of large numbers of unberthed passengers in special trades, such, for example, as the pilgrim trade, the Administration, if satisfied that it is impracticable to enforce compliance with the requirements of this Chapter, may exempt such ships from those requirements on the following conditions: (i) that the fullest provision which the circumstances of the trade will permit shall be made in the matter of lifeboats and other life-saving appliances and fire protection; (ii) that all such boats and appliances shall be readily available within the meaning of Regulation 4 of this Chapter; (iii) that a lifejacket shall be provided for every person on board; (iv) that steps shall be taken to formulate general rules which shall be applicable to the particular circumstances of these trades. Such rules shall be formulated in concert with such other Contracting Governments, if any, as may be directly interested in the carriage of such passengers in such trades. Notwithstanding any provisions of the present Convention the Simla Rules, 1931, shall continue in force as between the Parties to those Rules until the rules formulated under sub-paragraph (b) (iv) of this Regulation come into force. |