Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction and Survey) (Amendment No. 2) Rules, 1994

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 1994
• Citation: IR SI 131/1994

S.I. No. 131 of 1994.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (PASSENGER SHIP CONSTRUCTION AND SURVEY) (AMENDMENT NO. 2) RULES, 1994.

I, DAVID ANDREWS, Minister for the Marine, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 10 (as amended by section 9 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1966 (No. 20 of 1966), and section 29 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1992 (No. 2 of 1992)) of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 (No. 29 of 1952) and the Communications (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1987 ( S.I. No. 91 of 1987 ), hereby make the following Rules: 1. These Rules may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction and Survey) (Amendment No. 2) Rules, 1994, and shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1994. 2. The Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction and Survey) Rules, 1985 ( S.I. No. 274 of 1985 ), are hereby amended:

( a ) by the insertion after paragraph (9) of Rule 64 of the following paragraph:

"(9A) Any relief valves and air or overflow pipes shall discharge to a position which, in the opinion of the Minister, is safe.";

( b ) by the insertion after paragraph (10) of Rule 64 of the following paragraph:

"(10A) ( a ) This paragraph applies to post-1992 ships only.

( b ) Safe and efficient means of ascertaining the amount of oil fuel contained in any oil fuel tank shall be provided.

( c ) Where sounding pipes are used, they shall not terminate in any space where the risk of ignation or spillage from the sounding pipe might arise. In particular, they shall not terminate in passenger or crew spaces. As a general rule, they shall not terminate in machinery spaces. However, where the Minister considers that compliance with the last mentioned requirements would be impracticable in a particular case, he may permit termination of sounding pipes in machinery spaces if the following requirements are complied with:

(i) an oil-level gauge is provided complying with the requirements of sub-paragraph (d) of this paragraph;

(ii) the sounding pipes terminate in locations remote from ignition hazards unless precautions are taken such as the fitting of effective screens to prevent the oil fuel, in the case of spillage through the terminations of the sounding pipes, from coming into contact with a source of ignition;

(iii) the termination of sounding pipes are fitted with self-closing blanking devices and with a small-diameter self-closing control cock located below the blanking device for the purpose of ascertaining before the blanking device is opened that oil fuel is not present; provision shall be made so as to ensure that any spillage of oil fuel through the control cock involves no ignition hazard.

( d ) Other oil-level gauges may be used in place of sounding pipes. Such means, like the means provided in sub-paragraph (c) (i) of this paragraph, are subject to the condition that such means shall not require penetration below the top of the tank and their failure or over-filling of the tanks shall not permit release of fuel.

( e ) Means prescribed in sub-paragraph (d ) of this paragraph which are acceptable to the Minister shall be maintained in the proper condition to ensure their continued accurate functioning in service.";

( c ) by the insertion after paragraph (15) of Rule 64 of the following paragraph:

"(15A) ( a ) Oil fuel pipes and their valves and fittings shall be of steel or other approved material, except that restricted use of flexible pipes shall be permissible in positions where the Minister is satisfied that they are necessary.

( b ) Such flexible pipes and end attachments shall be of approved fire-resisting materials of adequate strength and shall be constructed to the satisfaction of the Minister.";

( d ) by the insertion after paragraph (5) of Rule 66 of the following paragraph:

"(6) ( a ) This paragraph applies to post-1992 ships only.

( b ) The arrangements for the storage, distribution and utilization of oil used in pressure lubrication systems shall be such as to ensure the safety of the ship and persons on board. The arrangements made in machinery spaces of Category A, and whenever practicable in other machinery spaces, shall at least comply with paragraphs (5), (6), (9), (9A), (10A), (15) (a), (15A) and (22) of Rule 64 of these Rules save that:

(i) this does not preclude the use of sight-flow glasses in lubricating systems provided that they are shown by test to have a suitable degree of fire resistance;

(ii) sounding pipes may be authorized in machinery spaces; the requirements of clauses (i) and (iii) of Rule 64 (10A) (c) of these Rules need not be applied on condition that the sounding...