Marine Orders - Part 21: Safety of navigation and emergency procedures, Issue 6 (Order No. 2 of 2009)
33Watertight opening in ships—safety procedures
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 33
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Marine Orders - Part 21: Safety of navigation and emergency procedures, Issue 6 (Order No. 2 of 2009).
33.1.1 The master of a ship must ensure that, except as provided in 33.1.2, every watertight door is kept closed while the ship is at sea.
33.1.2 A watertight door, other than a watertight door referred to in 33.3, may be opened:
(a) when it is necessary for it to be open for the working of the ship; or
(b) when it is opened and closed for the purposes of testing in accordance with 33.7.
33.1.3 Where a watertight door is open for the working of the ship, the master must ensure that the vicinity of the doorway is kept clear of any obstruction that may prevent rapid closure of the door.
33.2 Portable plates
33.2.1 The master of a ship must ensure that any portable plate fitted over an opening in the internal watertight structure of a ship is in place and forming a watertight connection to that structure before a voyage commences.
33.2.2 A person must not remove any portable plate referred to in 33.2.1 while the ship is at sea except in cases of urgent necessity on the direct order of the master.
33.3 Openings to be kept closed at sea
33.3.1 The master of a ship must ensure that each of the following openings in the ship are closed watertight and locked before the ship leaves the berth or anchorage:
(a) watertight doors in a watertight bulkhead separating cargo spaces or separating a cargo space from a passenger space;
(b) watertight doors that do not comply with 6.1 to 6.4 of Regulation 15 of Chapter II-1 of SOLAS;
(c) subject to 33.3.2, sidescuttles in a 'tween deck where the sill of any sidescuttle in that space, other than a non-opening sidescuttle, is below the margin line and is below a line drawn parallel to the bulkhead deck at side and having its lowest point 1.4 metres plus a distance equal to 2.5 per cent of the breadth of the ship above the waterline when the ship is first afloat in seawater on proceeding to sea;
(d) sidescuttles that are not accessible while the ship is at sea, and their deadlights; and
(e) gangway ports, cargo ports or coaling ports and any similar side openings below the margin line, or below the freeboard deck in a cargo ship.
33.3.2 A person must not open an opening referred to in 33.3.1 before the ship arrives at the next berth or anchorage.
33.3.3 For any ship that has one or more sidescuttles so placed that 33.3.1(c) would apply when it was floating at its deepest subdivision load line, the Manager, Ship Inspections, may indicate the limiting mean draught at which these sidescuttles will 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 per cent of the breadth of the ship above the waterline corresponding to the limiting mean draft, and at which it will 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 next voyage to port.
Note: In a tropical zone, the limiting mean draft may be increased by 0.3 metres.
33.4 Closure of cargo loading doors
33.4.1 The master of a ship must ensure that the following doors are closed and locked before a ship proceeds on any voyage:
(a) cargo loading doors in the shell or the boundaries of enclosed superstructures;
(b) bow visors fitted in the shell or the boundaries of enclosed superstructures;
(c) cargo loading doors in the collision bulkhead;
(d) weathertight ramps forming an alternative closure to those specified in (a), (b) and (c).
33.4.2 A person must not unlock or open a door referred to in 33.4.1 until the ship is at its next berth.
33.4.3 Where a bow or stern door cannot be opened or closed while the ship is at the berth, the door may be opened or left open while the ship approaches or draws away from the berth, but only so far as may be necessary to enable the door to be immediately operated. The bow door or visor may only be opened on approach to the berth, or left open on departure, on condition that the inner bow door is kept closed.
33.4.4 The master may permit particular doors to be opened if necessary for the operation of the ship or the embarking and disembarking of persons provided the ship is at safe anchorage and the master is satisfied that the doors may be opened without impairing the safety of the ship.
33.4.5 The master must ensure that an effective system of supervision and reporting of the closing and opening of the doors referred to in 33.4.1 is implemented.
33.5 Sidescuttles in spaces used for cargo or passengers
33.5.1 The master of a ship must ensure that the sidescuttles and deadlights of any space which may be used for the carriage of either cargo or passengers are closed watertight and locked before cargo is loaded in that space.
33.5.2 A person must not unlock or open a sidescuttle or deadlight referred to in 33.5.1 until the cargo is discharged.
33.6 Ash-chutes, rubbish-chutes and similar fittings
The master of a ship must ensure that the cover and valve of an ash-chute, rubbish-chute or other similar fitting in a ship having its inboard opening below the margin line of the ship is kept closed and secured watertight whenever the chute or other fitting is not in use.
33.7 Testing and periodical operation of openings
33.7.1 Subject to 33.7.4, the master of a ship must ensure that watertight doors and sidescuttles, the valves and closing mechanisms of scuppers, ash-chutes, rubbish-chutes fitted in a ship, and the means of communication provided in respect of those doors which cannot be closed from a central control station, are tested:
(a) at least once every week; and
(b) immediately before a voyage commences, if the voyage is to exceed 7 days; and
(c) immediately before leaving port, on a ro-ro passenger ship.
33.7.2 Subject to 33.7.3 and 33.7.4, the master of a ship must ensure that each watertight door fitted in a transverse watertight bulkhead, whether hinged or power operated, that is required to be open for the working of the ship, is closed and opened once daily while the ship is at sea for the purpose of testing its operation.
33.7.3 On ships normally engaged on voyages of less than 24 hours, the tests required by 33.7.2 may be carried out in port before departure.
33.7.4 Provisions 33.7.1 and 33.7.2 do not require the opening and closing while the ship is at sea of any door or other closing appliance fitted that is otherwise required by this Part or any other Part of Marine Orders to be kept closed at all times while the ship is at sea.
33.8 Periodical inspection
33.8.1 The owner of a ship must ensure that the following appliances and fittings are suitably marked with proper operating instructions to ensure safety and effectiveness when they are operated:
(a) watertight doors; and
(b) a mechanism, indicator or warning device associated with a watertight door; and
(c) the means of communication provided in connection with a watertight door that cannot be closed from a central control station, as specified in Marine Orders, Part 12 Construction – Subdivision & stability, machinery and electrical installations; and
(d) any valve required for the operation of damage-control cross-connections or for ensuring the watertight integrity of any space within the ship.
33.8.2 The master of a ship must ensure that the appliances and fittings referred to in 33.8.1 are inspected at least once every week.
33.9 Official log-book entries
33.9.1 The master of a ship must ensure that, before the ship proceeds on any voyage, entries are made in the official log-book recording:
(a) the times of the last closing of the doors specified in 33.4.1; and
(b) the times of opening any door referred to in 33.4.4.
33.9.2 The master of a ship must ensure that entries are made in the official log-book of the ship recording:
(a) the times of the last closing, if any, before the ship proceeds to sea, and of the next subsequent opening, of the fittings to which 33.3 and 33.4 apply;
(b) the times of the opening and closing, while the ship is at sea, of the watertight doors fitted between bunkers in a 'tween deck space below the bulkhead deck;
(c) whether the portable plates referred to in 33.2 are in place when the ship proceeds to sea and the times, if any, of the removal and replacement of those plates, or any of them, while the ship is at sea; and
(d) the times when the tests and inspections required by 33.7 and 33.8 were conducted and whether the fittings so tested and inspected were satisfactory and if not, the extent to which they were not in good working order and the action taken to put them in good working order.