Marine Orders - Part 43: Cargo & Cargo Handling—Livestock, Issue 6
20Sheepdesign of pens & passageways
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20 Sheepdesign of pens & passageways
20.1.1 Subject to 20.1.2, the construction of pens for sheep and of adjacent passageways must comply with the details specified in Table 3.
Table 3
| Detail of design | Dimension |
|---|---|
| Maximum breadth | 4.5 metres |
| Minimum breadth | 2.0 metres |
| Maximum length | Not more than twice the breadth |
| Detail of design | Dimension |
| Minimum length | Not less than the breadth |
| Maximum clear floor area within pen | 40.5 square metres |
| Minimum clear height within pen | 1.1 metres |
| Maximum clear vertical distance between rails | 300 millimetres |
| Maximum clear vertical distance below bottom edge of lowest rail of pen installed at deck level | 200 millimetres |
| Maximum clear vertical distance below bottom edge of lowest rail of pen not installed at deck level except where a vertical plate or board is fitted in accordance with 22.4 | 50 millimetres |
| Minimum height of top edge of uppermost rail above pen floor except that the height of that rail may be decreased if the clear height above that rail does not exceed 300 millimetres. | 900 millimetres |
| Minimum width of adjacent passageway clear of receptacles and any other obstructions | 550 millimetres |
20.1.2 In open structures above the weather deck, where pen rails form the outer perimeter containment, reduced pen rail spacing is required to minimise the risk of animals being lost overboard. These spacings are:
(a) the maximum clear vertical space below the bottom edge of the lowest rail and the top of a deck boundary angle or fashion plate, must be 100 millimetres; and
(b) the maximum clear vertical space between rails must be 200 millimetres except that the maximum clear vertical space between the uppermost rail and the next lower rail may be 250 millimetres.
20.2 The clear floor area within a pen referred to in Table 3 is the area of the pen exclusive of any receptacle or other object or structure occupying any part of the area of the pen.[28]
20.3 The deck within pens, passageways and ramps between decks must have a surface that provides a satisfactory non-slip foothold for the sheep.