1.3 Definitions
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Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - International Codes - 1983 IGC Code - International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk - Chapter 1 General - 1.3 Definitions

1.3 Definitions

 Except where expressly provided otherwise, the following definitions apply to the Code. Additional definitions are given in chapter 4.

  1.3.1 Accommodation spaces are those spaces used for public spaces, corridors, lavatories, cabins, offices, hospitals, cinemas, games and hobbies rooms, barber shops, pantries containing no cooking appliances and similar spaces. Public spaces are those portions of the accommodation which are used for halls, dining rooms, lounges and similar permanently enclosed spaces.

  1.3.2 `A' class divisions means divisions as defined in SOLAS regulation II-2/3.2.

  1.3.3.1 Administration means the Government of the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly.

  1.3.3.2 Port Administration means the appropriate authority of the country in the port of which the ship is loading or unloading.

  1.3.3.3 [LR Note: This item was added by Resolution MSC.17(58). It is only applicable to harmonised flags.]

Anniversary date means the day and the month of each year which will correspond to the date of expiry of the International Certificate of Fitness for the Carriage of Liquefied Gases in Bulk.

  1.3.4 Boiling point is the temperature at which a product exhibits a vapour pressure equal to the atmospheric pressure.

  1.3.5 Breadth (B) means the maximum breadth of the ship, measured amidships to the moulded line of the frame in a ship with a metal shell and to the outer surface of the hull in a ship with a shell of any other material. The breadth (B) should be measured in metres.

  1.3.6 Cargo area is that part of the ship which contains the cargo containment system and cargo pump and compressor rooms and includes deck areas over the full length and breadth of the part of the ship over the above-mentioned spaces. Where fitted, the cofferdams, ballast or void spaces at the after end of the aftermost hold space or at the forward end of the forwardmost hold space are excluded from the cargo area.

  1.3.7 Cargo containment system is the arrangement for containment of cargo including, where fitted, a primary and secondary barrier, associated insulation and any intervening spaces, and adjacent structure if necessary for the support of these elements. If the secondary barrier is part of the hull structure it may be a boundary of the hold space.

  1.3.8 Cargo control room is a space used in the control of cargo handling operations and complying with the requirements of 3.4.

  1.3.9 Cargoes are products listed in chapter 19 carried in bulk by ships subject to the Code.

  1.3.10 Cargo service spaces are spaces within the cargo area used for workshops, lockers and store-rooms of more than 2 m2 in area, used for cargo handling equipment.

  1.3.11 Cargo tank is the liquid-tight shell designed to be the primary container of the cargo and includes all such containers whether or not associated with insulation or secondary barriers or both.

  1.3.12 Cofferdam is the isolating space between two adjacent steel bulkheads or decks. This space may be a void space or a ballast space.

  1.3.13 Control stations are those spaces in which ships' radio or main navigating equipment or the emergency source of power is located or where the fire-recording or fire-control equipment is centralized. This does not include special fire-control equipment which can be most practically located in the cargo area.

  1.3.14 Flammable products are those identified by an F in column f in the table of chapter 19.

  1.3.15 Flammability limits are the conditions defining the state of fuel-oxidant mixture at which application of an adequately strong external ignition source is only just capable of producing flammability in a given test apparatus.

  1.3.16 Gas carrier is a cargo ship constructed or adapted and used for the carriage in bulk of any liquefied gas or other products listed in the table of chapter 19.

  1.3.17 Gas-dangerous space or zone is:

  • .1 a space in the cargo area which is not arranged or equipped in an approved manner to ensure that its atmosphere is at all times maintained in a gas-safe condition;

  • .2 an enclosed space outside the cargo area through which any piping containing liquid or gaseous products passes, or within which such piping terminates, unless approved arrangements are installed to prevent any escape of product vapour into the atmosphere of that space;

  • .3 a cargo containment system and cargo piping;

    • .4.1 a hold space where cargo is carried in a cargo containment system requiring a secondary barrier;

    • .4.2 a hold space where cargo is carried in a cargo containment system not requiring a secondary barrier;

  • .5 a space separated from a hold space described in .4.1 by a single gastight steel boundary;

  • .6 a cargo pump room and cargo compressor room;

  • .7 a zone on the open deck, or semi-enclosed space on the open deck, within 3 m of any cargo tank outlet, gas or vapour outlet, cargo pipe flange or cargo valve or of entrances and ventilation openings to cargo pump rooms and cargo compressor rooms;

  • .8 the open deck over the cargo area and 3 m forward and aft of the cargo area on the open deck up to a height of 2.4 m above the weather deck;

  • .9 a zone within 2.4 m of the outer surface of a cargo containment system where such surface is exposed to the weather;

  • .10 an enclosed or semi-enclosed space in which pipes containing products are located. A space which contains gas detection equipment complying with 13.6.5 and a space utilizing boil-off gas as fuel and complying with chapter 16 are not considered gas-dangerous spaces in this context;

  • .11 a compartment for cargo hoses; or

  • .12 an enclosed or semi-enclosed space having a direct opening into any gas-dangerous space or zone.

  1.3.18 Gas-safe space is a space other than a gas-dangerous space.

  1.3.19 Hold space is the space enclosed by the ship's structure in which a cargo containment system is situated.

  1.3.20 Independent means that a piping or venting system, for example, is in no way connected to another system and there are no provisions available for the potential connection to other systems.

  1.3.21 Insulation space is the space, which may or may not be an interbarrier space, occupied wholly or in part by insulation.

  1.3.22 Interbarrier space is the space between a primary and a secondary barrier, whether or not completely or partially occupied by insulation or other material.

  1.3.23 Length (L) means 96% of the total length on a waterline at 85% of the least moulded depth measured from the top of the keel, or the length from the foreside of the stem to the axis of the rudder stock on that waterline, if that be greater. In ships designed with a rake of keel, the waterline on which this length is measured should be parallel to the designed waterline. The length (L) should be measured in metres.

  1.3.24 Machinery spaces of category A are those spaces and trunks to such spaces which contain:

  • .1 internal combustion machinery used for main propulsion; or

  • .2 internal combustion machinery used for purposes other than main propulsion where such machinery has in the aggregate a total power output of not less than 375 kW; or

  • .3 any oil-fired boiler or oil fuel unit.

  1.3.25 Machinery spaces are all machinery spaces of category A and all other spaces containing propelling machinery, boilers, oil fuel units, steam and internal combustion engines, generators and major electrical machinery, oil filling stations, refrigerating, stabilizing, ventilation and air-conditioning machinery, and similar spaces; and trunks to such spaces.

  1.3.26 MARVS is the maximum allowable relief valve setting of a cargo tank.

  1.3.27 Oil fuel unit is the equipment used for the preparation of oil fuel for delivery to an oil-fired boiler, or equipment used for the preparation for delivery of heated oil to an internal combustion engine, and includes any oil pressure pumps, filters and heaters dealing with oil at a pressure of more than 1.8 bar gauge.

  1.3.28 Organization is the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

  1.3.29 Permeability of a space means the ratio of the volume within that space which is assumed to be occupied by water to the total volume of that space.

  1.3.30.1 Primary barrier is the inner element designed to contain the cargo when the cargo containment system includes two boundaries.

  1.3.30.2 Secondary barrier is the liquid-resisting outer element of a cargo containment system designed to afford temporary containment of any envisaged leakage of liquid cargo through the primary barrier and to prevent the lowering of the temperature of the ship's structure to an unsafe level. Types of secondary barrier are more fully defined in chapter 4.

  1.3.30.3 Recognized standards are applicable international or national standards acceptable to the Administration or standards laid down and maintained by an organization which complies with the standards adopted by the Organizationfootnote and which is recognized by the Administration.

  1.3.31 Relative density is the ratio of the mass of a volume of a product to the mass of an equal volume of fresh water.

  1.3.32 Separate means that a cargo piping system or cargo vent system, for example, is not connected to another cargo piping or cargo vent system. This separation may be achieved by the use of design or operational methods. Operational methods should not be used within a cargo tank and should consist of one of the following types:

  • .1 removing spool pieces or valves and blanking the pipe ends;

  • .2 arrangement of two spectacle flanges in series with provisions for detecting leakage into the pipe between the two spectacle flanges.

  1.3.33 Service spaces are those used for galleys, pantries containing cooking appliances, lockers, mail and specie rooms, store-rooms, workshops other than those forming part of the machinery spaces and similar spaces and trunks to such spaces.

  1.3.34 'SOLAS' means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended.

  1.3.35 1983 SOLAS amendments means amendments to the 1974 SOLAS Convention adopted by the Maritime Safety Committee of the Organization at its forty-eighth session on 17 June 1983 by resolution MSC.6(48).

  1.3.36 Tank cover is the protective structure intended to protect the cargo containment system against damage where it protrudes through the weather deck or to ensure the continuity and integrity of the deck structure.

  1.3.37 Tank dome is the upward extension of a portion of a cargo tank. In the case of below-deck cargo containment systems the tank dome protrudes through the weather deck or through a tank cover.

  1.3.38 Toxic products are those identified by a T in column f in the table of chapter 19.

  1.3.39 Vapour pressure is the equilibrium pressure of the saturated vapour above the liquid expressed in bars absolute at a specified temperature.

  1.3.40 Void space is an enclosed space in the cargo area external to a cargo containment system, other than a hold space, ballast space, fuel oil tank, cargo pump or compressor room, or any space in normal use by personnel.


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