Cargo Ships

Cargo Securing Manual

The carriage of an approved Cargo Securing Manual on board ships has been postponed to not later than 31 December 1997. A Cargo Securing Manual is required for all SOLAS-certificate ships, of 500 gt and upwards, both new construction and existing vessels, including tankers and bulk carriers that may carry cargo falling within the scope of Chapter VI or VII of SOLAS.

This will not only allow sufficient time for IACS to complete its effort to develop sound criteria to account for the inertial forces caused by the dynamic motion responses of a ship in a damaged condition as was requested by IMO, but also provides a reprieve for the estimated 30,000 ships required to be provided with a CSM found to be in compliance with the MSC Circular of recommendations.

New Damage Stability Requirements

The subdivision and probabilistic damage stability requirements contained in SOLAS Regulation II-1/B-1 for ships > 100m has been extended to all cargo ships > 80m constructed on or after 1 July 1998. The degree of subdivision for ships between 80m and 100m in length is however reduced from that required by Regulation II-1/B-1 based on a ratio of the ship’s length to a length of 100m.

Bulk Cargo Code Amendments

A MSC Circular was issued containing amendments to the Bulk Cargo (BC) Code which include a new entry for “coal”. Special provisions for its handling and stowage and cargo hold monitoring are provided with due consideration given to the hazardous characteristics of coals, which include emission of methane producing an explosive atmosphere (5%-16% methane/air mixture), oxidation leading to depletion of oxygen and self-heating leading to spontaneous combustion.

Vehicle Deck Ventilation

Guidelines for the design and operation of ventilation systems for vehicle decks was adopted. The Guidelines contain general principles for measuring the extent of exhaust-gas dilution and exchange as well as nominal supply rates for short term exposure based on the type and operating cycle of vehicles loaded. Also included are formulas to determine supply rates of fresh air based on the type, amount and exposure limit of the polluting substances that may be present. General precautions and methods for measuring and analyzing the effectiveness of an installed ventilation system through the use of tracer gases are also contained in the Guidelines.