1 Scope of Application

1.1 General

1.1.1 These Rules apply to the following ships:

a) Bulk carriers and double hull oil tankers and;
b) Being self-propelled ships with unrestricted navigation, and;
c) Contracted for construction on or after 1^st July 2015.

Note 1: Unrestricted navigation means that the ship is not subject to any geographical restrictions (i.e. any oceans, any seasons) except that limited by the ship’s capability for operation in ice.

Note 2: The ‘contracted for construction’ means the date on which the contract to build the ship is signed between the prospective owner and the builder. For further details regarding the date of ‘contracted for construction’, refer to IACS Procedural Requirement (PR) No. 29.

1.1.2 These Rules apply to ships constructed of welded steel structures and composed of stiffened plate panels. The ship’s structure is to be longitudinally or transversely framed with full transverse bulkheads and intermediate web frames.

The typical arrangements of ships covered by the rules assume that the structural arrangements include:

Double bottom, the depth of which is to be in accordance with applicable statutory requirements.
Engine room located aft of the cargo tank/hold region.

1.1.3 Ships for which these Rules are not applicable are to comply with the relevant Rules of the Society.

1.2 Scope of application for bulk carriers

1.2.1 These Rules apply to the hull structures of single side skin and double side skin bulk carriers having a length L of 90 m or above.

Bulk carriers are ships which are constructed generally with single deck, double bottom, hopper side tanks and topside tanks and with single or double side skin construction in cargo hold region and intended primarily to carry dry cargoes in bulk. Typical arrangements of bulk carriers are shown in Figure 1.

Hybrid bulk carriers, where at least one cargo hold is constructed with hopper tank and topside tank, see typical arrangements in Figure 1, and other cargo holds are constructed without hopper tank and/or topside tanks, see examples of a transverse section in Figure 2, are to comply with the strength criteria defined in these Rules.

These Rules are not applicable to the following ship types:

Ore carriers.
Combination carrier.
Woodchip carrier.
Cement, fly ash and sugar carriers provided that loading and unloading is not carried out by grabs heavier than 10 tons, power shovels and other means which may damage cargo hold structure.
Ships with inner bottom construction adapted for self-unloading.

Figure 1: Typical arrangements of bulk carriers

Figure 2 : Examples of transverse sections of cargo hold without hopper tank and/or topside tank

1.3 Scope of application for oil tankers

1.3.1 Length and structural arrangement application

These Rules apply to the hull structures of double hull oil tankers having length L of 150 m or above. Oil tanker is defined as a ship which has to comply with Annex I of MARPOL73/78.

The typical arrangements of oil tankers covered by the rules are shown in Figure 3 and assume that the structural arrangements include:

Double side structure with breadth in accordance with statutory requirements.
Side longitudinal, centreline longitudinal or transverse bulkheads of plane, corrugated or double skin construction.
Single deck structure.

The cross sections shown in Figure 3 are typical examples only and other variations of cross tie and web frame arrangements are also covered.

1.3.2 Cargo temperature application

The Rules are based on the following design temperatures for the cargo:

a) maximum temperature: 80°C
b) minimum temperature: 0°C.

Figure 3 : Typical arrangements of double hull oil tankers