Part V - Stability Management
Clasification Society 2024 - Version 9.40
Statutory Documents - MCA Publications - Yacht Code - January 2019 Edition - Part B - Passenger Yacht Code (up to 36 passengers) - Chapter 4 Construction, Subdivision and Stability - Part V - Stability Management

Part V - Stability Management

4.21 Damage Control Information footnote

(1) There shall be permanently exhibited, or readily available on the navigation bridge, for the guidance of the officer in charge of the ship-

  • (a) plans showing clearly for each deck and storage space the boundaries of the watertight compartments, the openings therein with the means of closure and position of any controls thereof, and the arrangements for the correction of any list due to flooding;

  • (b) booklets containing the aforementioned information shall be made available to the officers of the ship.

(2) Watertight doors in passenger ships permitted to remain open during navigation shall be clearly indicated in the ship’s stability information.

(3) General precautions to be included shall consist of a listing of equipment, conditions, and operational procedures, considered by the Administration to be necessary to maintain watertight integrity under normal ship operations.

(4) Specific precautions to be included shall consist of a listing of elements (i.e. closures, security of stores, sounding of alarms, etc.) considered by the Administration to be vital to the survival of the ship, passengers and crew.

(5) In case of ships to which damage stability requirements of Part II of this Chapter apply, damage stability information shall provide the master with a simple and easily understandable way of assessing the ship’s survivability in all damage cases involving a compartment or group of compartments.

4.22 Loading of Passenger Ships

(1) On completion of loading of the ship-

  • (a) the master shall, prior to the ship’s departure, determine the ship’s trim and stability and also ascertain and record that the ship is in compliance with stability criteria in relevant regulations; and

  • (b) the determination of the ship’s stability shall always be made by calculation provided that the Administration may accept the use of an electronic loading and stability computer or equivalent means for this purpose.

(2) Water ballast shall not in general be carried in tanks intended for oil fuel provided that in ships in which it is not practicable to avoid putting water in oil fuel tanks, oily-water separating equipment to the satisfaction of the Administration shall be fitted, or other alternative means, such as discharge to shore facilities, acceptable to the Administration shall be provided for disposing of the oily-water ballast.

(3) The provisions of this section are without prejudice to the provisions of MARPOL.

4.23 Periodical Operation and Inspection of Watertight doors, etc.

(1) Drills for the operating of watertight doors, sidescuttles, valves and closing mechanisms of scuppers, ash-chutes and rubbish-chutes shall take place weekly. In ships in which the voyage exceeds one week in duration a complete drill shall be held before leaving port, and others thereafter at least once a week during the voyage.

(2) All watertight doors, both hinged and power operated, in watertight bulkheads, in use at sea, shall be operated daily.

(3) The watertight doors and all mechanisms and indicators connected therewith, all valves, the closing of which is necessary to make a compartment watertight, and all valves the operation of which is necessary for damage control cross connections shall be periodically inspected at sea at least once a week.

(4) A record of all drills and inspections required by this Section shall be entered in the log-book with an explicit record of any defects which may be disclosed.

4.24 Prevention and Control of Water Ingress, etc.

(1) All watertight doors shall be kept closed during navigation provided that-

  • (a) they may be opened during navigation as specified in Sections (3) and (4);

  • (b) watertight doors of a width of more than 1.2 metres in machinery spaces as permitted by section 4.15 (10) may only be opened in the circumstances detailed in that regulation; and

  • (c) any door which is opened in accordance with this paragraph shall be ready to be immediately closed.

(2) Watertight doors located below the bulkhead deck having a maximum clear opening width of more than 1.2 metres shall be kept closed when the ship is at sea, except for limited periods when absolutely necessary as determined by the Administration.

(3) A watertight door may be opened during navigation to permit the passage of passengers or crew, or when work in the immediate vicinity of the door necessitates it being opened provided that the door shall be immediately closed when transit through the door is complete or when the task which necessitated it being open is finished.

(4) Certain watertight doors may be permitted to remain open during navigation under the following conditions-

  • (a) only if considered absolutely necessary; that is, being open is determined essential to the safe and effective operation of the ship’s machinery or to permit passengers normally unrestricted access throughout the passenger area;

  • (b) such determination shall be made by the Administration only after careful consideration of the impact on ship operations and survivability; and

  • (c) a watertight door permitted to remain thus open shall be clearly indicated in the ship’s stability information and shall always be ready to be immediately closed.

(5) Portable plates on bulkheads and power-operated sliding doors permitted in machinery spaces in accordance with section 4.15(10) shall be subject to the following provisions-

  • (a) portable plates shall always be in place before the ship leaves port, and shall not be removed during navigation except in case of urgent necessity at the discretion of the master;

  • (b) the necessary precautions shall be taken in replacing portable plates to ensure that the joints are watertight; and

  • (c) power-operated sliding watertight doors permitted in machinery spaces shall be closed before the ship leaves port and shall remain closed during navigation except in case of urgent necessity at the discretion of the master.

(6) Watertight doors fitted in watertight bulkheads dividing storage between deck spaces in accordance with section 4.15(9) shall be closed before the voyage commences and shall be kept closed during navigation; the time of opening such doors in port and of closing them before the ship leaves port shall be entered in the Official Log Book Part 2.

(7) Gangway, stores and fueling ports fitted below the bulkhead deck shall be effectively closed and secured watertight before the ship leaves port, and shall be kept closed during navigation.

(8) The following doors, located above the bulkhead deck, shall be closed and locked before the ship proceeds on any voyage and shall remain closed and locked until the ship is at its next berth-

  • (a) doors in the shell or the boundaries of enclosed superstructures;

  • (b) garage doors fitted in positions as indicated in Section (a) above;

  • (c) doors in the collision bulkhead; and

  • (d) other shell openings forming an alternative closure to those defined in the above Sections (a) to (c) inclusive.

(9) Notwithstanding the requirements of Sections 8(a) and (d) above, the Administration may authorise that particular doors can be opened at the discretion of the master, if necessary for the operation of the ship or the embarking and disembarking of passengers and appropriate recreational activities when the ship is at safe anchorage and provided that the safety of the ship is not impaired.

(10) The master shall ensure that an effective system of supervision and reporting of the closing and opening of the doors referred to in Section (8) is implemented.

(11) The master shall ensure, before the ship proceeds on any voyage, that an entry in the log-book is made of the time of the last closing of the doors specified in Section (13) and the time of any opening of particular doors in accordance with Section (14).

(12) Hinged doors, portable plates, sidescuttles, gangway, stores loading and bunkering ports and other openings, which are required by this Section to be kept closed during navigation, shall be closed before the ship leaves port and the time of closing and the time of opening (where permissible under the Code) shall be recorded in such log-book as may be prescribed by the Administration.

(13) Where in a between-decks, the sills of any of the sidescuttles referred to in section 4.16(4) are below a line drawn parallel to the bulkhead deck at side and having its lowest point 1.4 metres plus 2.5% of the breadth of the ship above the water when the ship departs from any port-

  • (a) all the sidescuttles in that between-decks shall be closed watertight and locked before the ship leaves port;

  • (b) they shall not be opened before the ship arrives at the next port;

  • (c) in the application of this paragraph the appropriate allowance for fresh water may be made when applicable;

  • (d) the time of opening such sidescuttles in port and of closing and locking them before the ship leaves port shall be entered in such log-book as may be prescribed by the Administration; and

  • (e) for any ship that has one or more sidescuttles so placed that the requirements of this Section would apply when it was floating at its deepest subdivision draught, the Administration may indicate the limiting mean draught at which these sidescuttles shall have their sills above the line drawn parallel to the bulkhead deck at side, and having its lowest point 1.4 metres plus 2.5% of the breadth of the ship above the waterline corresponding to the limiting mean draft, and at which it shall therefore be permissible to depart from port without previously closing and locking them and to open them at sea on the responsibility of the master during the voyage to the next port; in tropical zones as defined in the ILLC, this limiting draught may be increased by 0.3 metres.

(14) Sidescuttles and their deadlights which shall not be accessible during navigation shall be closed and secured before the ship leaves port.

(15) If stores are carried in spaces fitted with sidescuttles then those sidescuttles and their deadlights shall be closed watertight and locked before the stores are shipped and such closing and locking shall be recorded in such log-book as may be prescribed by the Administration.

(16) When a rubbish-chute, etc., is not in use, both the cover and the valve required by section 4.16(10)(b) shall be kept closed and secured.

Parent topic: Chapter 4 Construction, Subdivision and Stability
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