Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act 1932

REGULATION VIII Construction and Initial Testing of Watertight Bulkheads, &c.

(1) Watertight subdivision bulkheads, whether transverse or longitudinal, shall be constructed in such a manner that they shall be capable of supporting with a proper margin of resistance, the pressure due to a head of water up to the margin line in way of each bulkhead. The construction of these bulkheads shall be to the satisfaction of the Administration.

(2) Steps and recesses in bulkheads shall be watertight and as strong as the bulkhead at the place where each occurs.

Where frames or beams pass through a watertight deck or bulkhead, such deck or bulkhead shall be made structurally watertight without the use of wood or cement.

(3) Testing main compartments by filling them with water is not compulsory. A complete examination of the bulkheads shall be made by a surveyor; and, in addition, a hose test shall be made in all cases.

(4) The fore peak shall be tested with water to a head up to the deepest subdivision loadline.

(5) Double bottoms, including duct keels, and inner skins are to be subjected to a head of water up to the margin line.

(6) Tanks which are intended to hold liquids, and which form part of the subdivision of the ship, shall be tested for tightness with water to a head up to the deepest subdivision loadline or to a head corresponding to two-thirds of the depth from the top of keel to the margin line in way of the tanks, whichever is the greater; provided that in no case shall the test head be less than 3 feet (.92 metre) above the top of the tank.