Merchant Shipping (Fire Protection) Rules 1985.
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

num: 1985
paragraphs: I, JAMES MITCHELL, Minister for Communications, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 427 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (inserted by section 11 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 (No. 29 of 1952), as amended by section 10 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1966 (No. 20 of 1966), section 10 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 , as amended by section 9 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1966 , section 3 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1966 , and the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 1983 (No. 40 of 1983), hereby make the following Rules:—
PART IPRELIMINARY
1 Citation, commencement, interpretation and application
num: 1
paragraphs: (1) These Rules may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Fire protection) Rules, 1985 and shall come into operation on the 16th day of September, 1985.
(2) In these Rules the following expressions have the following meanings respectively:
" 'A' Class Division" means a bulkhead or part of a deck which is:
( a ) constructed of steel or other equivalent material;
( b ) suitably stiffened;
( c ) so constructed as to be capable of preventing the passage of smoke and flame to the end of the 60 minute standard fire test; and
( d ) so insulated where necessary with suitable non-combustible materials that if the division is exposed to a standard fire test the average temperature on the unexposed side of the division shall not increase more than 139°C above the initial temperature nor shall the temperature at any one point, including any point, rise more than 180°C above the initial temperature within the time listed below:—
"A-60" standard 60 minutes
"A-30" standard 30 minutes
"A-15" standard 15 minutes
"A-0" standard 0 minutes;
"Accommodation spaces" means:—
( a ) public spaces;
( b ) corridors and lobbies;
( c ) stairways;
( d ) lavatories;
( e ) cabins;
( f ) offices;
( g ) hospitals;
( h ) hairdressing salons;
( i ) pantries not containing cooking appliances;
( j ) lockers;
( k ) games and hobbies' rooms;
( l ) spaces similar to any of the foregoing and trunks to such spaces allocated to passengers or crew;
" 'B' Class Division" means a bulkhead, part of a deck, ceiling or lining which is:—
( a ) so constructed as to be capable of preventing the passage of flame to the end of the first 30 minutes of the standard fire test;
( b ) so constructed as to provide an insulation standard such that, if the division is exposed to a standard fire test, the average temperature on the unexposed side of the division shall not increase more than 139°C above the initial temperature, nor shall the temperature at any one point, including any joint, rise more than 225°C above the initial temperature within the time listed below:—
"B-15" standard 15 minutes
"B-0" standard 0 minutes; and
( c ) constructed of suitable non-combustible materials and all materials whose use is necessary for or ancillary to its construction and erection shall be non-combustible, with the exception that combustible veneers may be permitted provided that they meet the requirements of Rules 84, 100, 121 or 137 of these Rules;
"Bulkhead deck" means the uppermost deck up to which transverse watertight bulkheads are carried;
" 'C' Class division" means a bulkhead, ceiling or lining which is constructed of suitable non-combustible materials not being an 'A' Class division or a 'B' Class division;
"Cargo area" means that part of the ship that contains cargo tanks, slop tanks and cargo pump rooms, cofferdams, ballast and void spaces adjacent to cargo tanks and also deck areas throughout the entire length and breadth of the part of the ship over such spaces;
"Cargo control station" means a space from which the loading, discharging or transferring of any cargo may be controlled;
"Cargo pump room" means a room in which any pumps used for loading, discharging or transferring cargoes are located;
"Cargo spaces" are all spaces used for cargo including cargo oil tanks, slop tanks and trunks to such spaces;
"Certificate of Fitness for the Carriage of Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk" means a certificate in compliance with the requirements of the "Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk" or the "International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk";
"Certificate of Fitness for the Carriage of Liquefied Gases in Bulk" means a certificate in compliance with the requirements of the "Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk" for the "International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk";
"Chemical tanker" means a tanker constructed or adapted and used for the carriage in bulk of any liquid product of a flammable nature listed in either:
num: 1
paragraphs: Chapter 17 of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk; or
num: 2
paragraphs: Chapter VI of the Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk,
whichever is applicable;
"Closed ro/ro cargo space" means a ro/ro cargo space which is not an open ro/ro space and not a weather deck;
"Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk" means the code so entitled adopted by the International Maritime Organisation by Resolution A 212 (VII);
"Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk" means the code so entitled adopted by the International Maritime Organisation by Resolution A 328 (IX);
"Combination carrier" means a tanker designed to carry oil or alternatively solid cargoes in bulk;
"Continuous 'B' Class ceiling or lining" means a 'B' Class division forming a ceiling or lining which terminates only at an 'A' or 'B' Class division;
"Control room" means a room either within or outside a propulsion machinery space from which propulsion machinery and boilers may be controlled;
"Control stations" means spaces in which radio or main navigating equipment, or the emergency source of power, or the central fire recording equipment, or fire control equipment, or fire extinguishing installations are located or a control room located outside a propulsion machinery space;
"Crude oil" means any oil occurring naturally in the earth whether or not treated to render it suitable for transportation and includes:—
( a ) crude oil from which certain distillate fractions may have been removed; and
( b ) crude oil to which certain distillate fractions may have been added;
"Dangerous goods" means goods as defined in the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods) Rules 1983 ( S.I. No. 306 of 1983 ) and any reference to a particular class of dangerous goods is a reference to that class of dangerous goods as defined in those Rules;
"Deadweight" means the difference in tonnes between the displacement of a ship in water of a specific gravity of 1.025 at the load waterline corresponding to the assigned summer freeboard and the lightweight of the ship;
"Equivalent material" as used in the expression "steel or other equivalent material" means any non-combustible material which, by itself or due to insulation provided, has structural and integrity properties equivalent to steel at the end of an appropriate fire test;
"Existing ship" means a ship which is not a new ship;
"Fishing boat" has the same meaning as in section 370 of the Principal Act;
"Gas carrier" means a tanker constructed or adapted and used for the carriage in bulk of any liquefied gas or certain other substances of a flammable nature listed in either:
num: 1
paragraphs: Chapter 19 of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk;
num: 2
paragraphs: Chapter XIX of the Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk; whichever is applicable;
"Gas safe space" is a space into which the entry of hydrocarbon gases or other gases of a flammable or toxic nature has been restricted;
"Guidelines for Inert Gas Systems" (MSC/Circ 353) forms part of the publication "Inert Gas System" 1983 edition published by the International Maritime Organisation;
"International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk" means the code so entitled adopted by the International Maritime Organisation by Resolution MSC 4 (48);
"International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk" means the code so entitled adopted by the International Maritime Organisation by Resolution MSC 5 (48);
"International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code" (the IMDG Code) means the code of that name published by the International Maritime Organisation; 1977 edition as amended by amendments numbers 1-20;
"Length" in relation to a registered ship means registered length, and in relation to an unregistered ship means the length from the fore part of the stem to the aft side of the head of the stern post or, if no stern post is fitted to take the rudder, to the fore side of the rudder stock at the point where the rudder passes out of the hull;
"Lightweight" means the displacement of a ship in tonnes without cargo, oil fuel, lubricating oil, ballast water, fresh water in tanks, stores, together with passengers and crew and their effects;
"Machinery spaces" means spaces which contain propulsion machinery, boilers, oil fuel units, steam and internal combustion engines, generators and major electrical machinery, oil filling stations, refrigerating, stabilising ventilation and air conditioning machinery and similar spaces and where the context so admits, any trunk to such a space;
"Machinery spaces of Category 'A' " means machinery spaces which contain:
( a ) internal combustion type machinery used either for main propulsion purposes, or for other purposes where such machinery has in the aggregate a total power output of not less than 375 kilowatts, or
( b ) any oil-fired boiler or oil-fuel unit; and any trunk to such a space;
"Main vertical zones" means the main vertical zones into which the hull, superstructure and deck houses of a ship are divided in accordance with Rule 76 or 91 of these Rules;
"Marine Notice" means a notice described as such and issued by the Department of Communications; and any reference to a particular Marine Notice includes a reference to that Notice as amended or replace from time to time by a subsequent Notice;
"Minister" means the Minister for Communications;
"New ship" means a ship the keel of which is laid or which is at a similar stage of construction on or after 1st September 1984; for the purpose of this definition "a similar stage of construction" means the stage at which construction identifiable with a specific ship begins and assembly of that ship has commenced comprising at least 50 tonnes or one per cent of the estimated mass of all structural materials whichever is less;
"Newly converted passenger ship" means an existing ship other than a passenger ship which is converted into a passenger ship after 1st September 1984 such conversion having commenced after that date;
"Non-combustible material" means material which when heated to a temperature of 750°C neither flames for longer than 10 seconds duration, nor raises either its internal temperature or the temperature of the test furnace more than 50°C above 750°C when tested in accordance with British Standard Specification 476: Part 4: 1970, and the expression "combustible material" shall be construed accordingly;
"Oil-fired boiler" means any boiler wholly or partly fired by liquid fuel;
"Oil-fuel unit" means 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 pressure pumps, filters and heaters dealing with oil at a pressure more than 1.8 bar (0.18 N/mm2);
"Passenger ship" means a ship carrying more than 12 passengers;
"Pleasure craft" means a vessel primarily used for sport or recreation;
"the Principle Act" means the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894;
"Protocol of 1978" means the Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974;
"Public spaces" includes halls, dining rooms, bars, smoke rooms, lounges, recreation rooms, nurseries, libraries, conemas, sale shops and similar permanently enclosed spaces allocated to passengers or crew;
"Reid vapour pressure" means the vapour pressure of a liquid as determined by laboratory testing in a standard manner in the Reid apparatus;
"Rooms containing furniture and furnishings of restricted fire risk" means rooms in which:
( a ) all case furniture such as desks, wardrobes, dressing tables, bureaux, dressers, is constructed entirely of approved non-combustible materials, except that a combustible veneer not exceeding 2 millimetres may be used on the finished surface of such furniture;
( b ) all free-standing furniture such as chairs, sofas, tables is constructed with frames of non-combustible materials;
( c ) all draperies, curtains and other suspended textile materials have qualities of resistance to the propagation of flame in accordance with the requirement of Type B performance of British Standard 5867: Part 2:1980;
( d ) all surface floor coverings have qualities of resistance to the propagation of flame to the satisfaction of the Minister; and
( e ) the upholstered parts of furniture have qualities of resistance to the ignition and propagation of flame to the satisfaction of the Minister;
"Ro/ro cargo spaces" means spaces not normally subdivided in any way and extending to either a substantial length or the entire length of the ship in which goods (packaged or in bulk), in or on rail or road cars, vehicles (including road or rail tankers), trailers, containers, pallets, demountable tanks or in or on similar stowage units or other receptacles can be loaded and unloaded normally in a horizontal direction;
"Open ro/ro cargo spaces" are ro/ro cargo spaces which are open at both ends, or open at one end and provided with adequate natural ventilation effective over the entire length through permanent openings in the side plating or deck head;
"Sailing ship" includes a ship provided with sufficient sail area for navigation under sails alone, whether or not fitted with mechanical means of propulsion;
"Service spaces" include galleys, pantries containing cooking appliances, laundries, drying rooms, lockers and store rooms, paint rooms, baggage rooms, mail and specie rooms, workshops (other than those forming part of machinery spaces) and similar spaces and trunks to such spaces;
"Special category space" means any enclosed space above or below the bulkhead deck intended for the carriage of motor vehicles with fuel in their tanks for their own propulsion, into and from which such vehicles can be driven and to which passengers have access;
"Standard fire test" means a test in which a specimen of the relevant "A" Class or "B" Class division, having an exposed surface area of not less than 4.65 square metres and a bulkhead height or deck length of 2.44 metres, resembling as closely as possible the intended construction and including where appropriate at least one joint, is exposed in a test furnace to a series of time temperature relationships defined by a smooth curve drawn through the following temperature points measured above the initial furnace temperature:
At the end of the first 5 minutes 556°C
At the end of the first 10 minutes 659°C
At the end of the first 15 minutes 718°C
At the end of the first 30 minutes 821°C
At the end of the first 60 minutes 925°C
"Suitable" in relation to material means approved by the Minister as suitable for the purpose for which it is used;
"Surface spread of flame" means the surface spread of flame classified as Class 1 or Class 2 within the meaning of British Standard 476: Part 7: 1971;
"Tanker" means a cargo ship constructed or adapted for the carriage in bulk of liquid cargoes of a flammable nature;
"Tons" means gross tons and a reference to tons: