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 III : Live-Saving Appliances, etc.

Part A — General

Regulation 26 : Practice musters and drills

Purchase

(a)

(i)	In passenger ships, musters of the crew for boat drill and fire drill shall take place weekly when practicable and there shall be such a muster when a passenger ship leaves the final port of departure on an international voyage which is not a short international voyage.

(ii)

In cargo ships, a muster of the crew for boat drill and fire drill shall take place at intervals of not more than one month, provided that a muster of the crew for boat drill and fire drill shall take place within 24 hours of leaving a port if more than 25 per cent of the crew have been replaced at that port.

(iii)

On the occasion of the monthly muster in cargo ships the boat’s equipment shall be examined to ensure that it is complete.

(iv)

The date upon which musters are held, and details of any training and drills in fire fighting which are carried out on board shall be recorded in such log book as may be prescribed by the Administration. If in any week (for passenger ships) or month (for cargo ships) no muster or a part muster only is held, an entry shall be made stating the circumstances and extent of the muster held. A report of the examination of the boat’s equipment on cargo ships shall be entered in the log book, which shall also record the occasions on which the lifeboats are swung out and lowered in compliance with paragraph (c) of this Regulation.

(b)	In passenger ships, except those engaged on short international voyages, a muster of the passengers shall be held within 24 hours after leaving port.

(c)

Different groups of lifeboats shall be used in turn at successive boat drills and every lifeboat shall be swung out and, if practicable and reasonable, lowered at least once every four months. The musters and inspections shall be so arranged that the crew thoroughly understand and are practised in the duties they have to perform, including instructions in the handling and operation of liferafts where these are carried.

(d)

The emergency signal for summoning passengers to muster stations shall be a succession of seven or more short blasts followed by one long blast on the whistle or siren. This shall be supplemented in passenger ships, except those engaged on short international voyages, by other signals, which shall be electrically operated, throughout the ship operable from the bridge. The meaning of all signals affecting passengers, with precise instructions on what they are to do in an emergency, shall be clearly stated in appropriate languages on cards posted in their cabins and in conspicuous places in other passenger quarters.