Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act 1932

Section 22.

THIRD SCHEDULE Rules with respect to Watertight Doors and other Contrivances.

1 The following contrivances shall be securely closed so as to be watertight before the steamer proceeds to sea, and shall always be kept closed while the steamer is at sea, that is to say:—

(a) hinged watertight doors below the margin line, which are fitted in main transverse bulkheads dividing cargo between deck spaces;

(b) sidescuttles in any between deck space, wherein the sill of any sidescuttle which can be opened is below a line drawn on the side of the steamer parallel to the bulkhead deck and having its lowest point four and a half feet, in addition to two and a half per centum of the breadth of the steamer, above the water at the time when the steamer proceeds to sea;

(c) sidescuttles below the margin line which will not be accessible while the steamer is at sea, together with their dead-lights;

(d) gangway, cargo and coaling ports below the margin line.

Provided that in fair weather in tropical waters sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph shall have effect as if " three and a half feet " were substituted for " four and a half feet. "

For the purpose of this paragraph, a contrivance shall be deemed to be below the margin line if the sill thereof is below that line, and a sidescuttle mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph shall not be deemed to be closed unless it is locked.

2 Every watertight door fitted in a main transverse bulkhead, not being a door mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) of the last foregoing paragraph, shall be kept closed while the steamer is at sea except so far as it is necessary to open it for the working of the steamer, and when open shall be kept ready to be closed forthwith.

3 Every portable plate closing an opening in a bulkhead, being an opening which is wholly or partly below the margin line, shall be in place before the steamer proceeds to sea, and no such plate shall be removed at sea except in case of urgent necessity, and in replacing any such plate all reasonable precautions shall be taken to ensure that the joints are watertight.

4 The cover and valve of every ash-shoot, rubbish-shoot or other similar contrivance, having its inboard opening below the margin line, shall be kept securely closed when the contrivance is not in use.

5 The opening and closing of all such watertight doors and other contrivances as are mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 1 and paragraphs 2 and 4 of this Schedule, and of the closing mechanism of all scuppers having their inboard opening below the margin line, shall be practised once a week and also before the steamer proceeds to sea on any voyage which is likely to last more than a week:

Provided that while the steamer is at sea—

(a) the opening and closing of all such watertight doors, which are in use and are hinged or operated by power, shall be practised daily;

(b) nothing in this paragraph shall be taken to authorise the opening of any watertight door or other contrivance which is required by paragraph 1 of this Schedule to be kept closed.

6 Every valve, the closing of which is necessary to make any compartment watertight, and every watertight door in a main transverse bulkhead and the mechanism and indicators connected therewith, shall be inspected at least once a week.

7 A record shall be entered in the official logbook—

(a) of the time of opening and closing every watertight door operated by power which is fitted between bunkers in the between decks below the bulkhead deck, every such portable plate as is mentioned in paragraph 3 of this Schedule and every such watertight door, and other contrivance as is mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Schedule; and

(b) of every occasion on which the opening and closing of watertight doors and other contrivances is practised on board the ship in pursuance of this Schedule ; and

(c) of every occasion on which watertight doors and other contrivances have been inspected in pursuance of this Schedule.

8 In this Schedule the expressions " bulkhead deck " and " margin line " have the same meaning as in the construction regulations.