Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)

Schedules

Second Schedule

Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974

Annex

Chapter II-2 : Construction—Fire Protection, Fire Detection and Fire Extinction

Part B — Fire Safety Measures for Passenger Ships Carrying More than 36 Passengers

Regulation 22 : Protection of stairways and lifts in accommodation and service spaces

Purchase

(a)	All stairways shall be of steel frame construction except where the Administration sanctions the use of other equivalent material, and shall be within enclosures formed of “A” Class divisions, with positive means of closure at all openings, except that—

(i)

a stairway connecting only two decks need not be enclosed, provided the integrity of the deck is maintained by proper bulkheads or doors at one between deck space. When a stairway is closed at one between deck space, the stairway enclosure shall be protected in accordance with the tables for decks in Regulation 20 of this Chapter;

(ii)	stairways may be fitted in the open in a public space, provided they lie wholly within such public space.

(b)

Stairway enclosures shall have direct communication with the corridors and be of sufficient area to prevent congestion, having in view the number of persons likely to use them in an emergency. In so far as practicable, stairway enclosures shall not give direct access to cabins, service lockers, or other enclosed spaces containing combustibles in which a fire is likely to originate.

(c)	Lift trunks shall be so fitted as to prevent the passage of smoke and flame from one between deck to another and shall be provided with means of closing so as to permit the control of draught and smoke.