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 23 : Openings in “A” Class divisions

Purchase

(a)	Where “A” Class divisions are pierced for the passage of electric cables, pipes, trunks, ducts, etc., for girders, beams or other structures, arrangements shall be made to ensure that the fire resistance is not impaired, subject to the provisions of paragraph (g) of this Regulation.

(b)

Where of necessity, a ventilation duct passes through a main vertical zone bulkhead, a fail-safe automatic closing fire damper shall be fitted adjacent to the bulkhead. The damper shall also be capable of being manually closed from each side of the bulkhead. The operating position shall be readily accessible and be marked in red light-reflecting colour. The duct between the bulkhead and the damper shall be of steel or other equivalent material and, if necessary, to an insulating standard such as to comply with paragraph (a) of this Regulation. The damper shall be fitted on at least one side of the bulkhead with a visible indicator showing if the damper is in the open position.

(c)	Except for hatches between cargo, special category, store, and baggage spaces, and between such spaces and the weather decks, all openings shall be provided with permanently attached means of closing which shall be at least as effective for resisting fires as the divisions in which they are fitted.

(d)

The construction of all doors and door frames in “A” Class divisions, with the means of securing them when closed, shall provide resistance to fire as well as to the passage of smoke and flame, as far as practicable, equivalent to that of the bulkheads in which the doors are situated. Such doors and door frames shall be constructed of steel or other equivalent material. Watertight doors need not be insulated.

(e)	It shall be possible for each door to be opened and closed from each side of the bulkhead by one person only.

(f)

Fire doors in main vertical zone bulkheads and stairway enclosures, other than power-operated watertight doors and those which are normally locked, shall be of the self-closing type capable of closing against an inclination of 3« degrees opposing closure. The speed of door closure shall, if necessary, be controlled so as to prevent undue danger to personnel. All such doors, except those that are normally closed, shall be capable of release from a control station, either simultaneously or in groups, and also individually from a position at the door. The release mechanism shall be so designed that the door will automatically close in the event of disruption of the control system; however, approved power-operated watertight doors will be considered acceptable for this purpose. Holdback hooks, not subject to control station release, will not be permitted. When double swing doors are permitted, they shall have a latch arrangement which is automatically engaged by the operation of the door release system.

(g)

Where a space is protected by an automatic sprinkler system complying with the provisions of Regulation 12 of this Chapter or fitted with a continuous “B” Class ceiling, openings in decks not forming steps in main vertical zones nor bounding horizontal zones shall be closed reasonably tight and such decks shall meet the “A” Class integrity requirements in so far as is reasonable and practicable in the opinion of the Administration.

(h)	The requirements for “A” Class integrity of the outer boundaries of a ship shall not apply to glass partitions, windows and sidescuttles. Similarly, the requirements for “A” Class integrity shall not apply to exterior doors in superstructures and deckhouses.