The Merchant Shipping (Fire Protection: Small Ships) Regulations 1998

PART II—FIRE PREVENTION AND FIRE APPLIANCES

Passenger Ships

SHIPS OF CLASS II(A) OF LESS THAN 21.34 METRES IN LENGTH

Fire pumps, fire main, water service pipes, hydrants, hoses and nozzles

3.  Every ship of Class II(A) of less than 21.34 metres in length shall be provided in a position outside the machinery spaces with either a power or hand operated pump with a permanent sea connection and a hose with a 10 millimetres diameter nozzle capable of producing a jet of water having a throw of not less than 6 metres which can be directed on to any part of the ship.

Portable fire extinguishers

4.  Every ship of Class II(A) of less than 21.34 metres in length shall be provided with at least one portable fire extinguisher in each of the passenger spaces above the bulkhead deck, and with at least two such extinguishers in each of the crew spaces and in each of the passenger spaces below that deck. At least one portable fire extinguisher shall be available for use in any galley.

Machinery spaces of Category A and spaces containing oil fuel settling tanks

5.—(1) In every ship of Class II(A) of less than 21.34 metres in length there shall be provided in any space containing any oil-fired boiler, oil fuel settling tank or oil fuel unit, one or more foam fire extinguishers each of at least 45 litres capacity or carbon dioxide extinguishers each of at least 16 kilogrammes capacity. The extinguisher, or extinguishers, shall be sited so as to be readily accessible in the event of a fire and they shall be sufficient in number to enable foam or carbon dioxide to be directed on to any part of the boiler room or space containing any part of the oil fuel installation. In addition there shall be provided—

(a)in each firing space and in each space which contains any part of any oil fuel installation at least two portable fire extinguishers suitable for extinguishing oil fires; and

(b)in each firing space a receptacle containing at least 0.3 cubic metre of sand or other dry material suitable for extinguishing oil fires together with a scoop for its distribution, or alternatively, an additional portable fire extinguisher for extinguishing oil fires.

(2) In every ship of Class II(A) of 15.24 metres in length or over but of less than 21.34 metres in length there shall be provided in each space containing internal combustion type propultion machinery at least five portable fire extinguishers suitable for extinguishing oil fires, and every ship of Class II(A) of less than 15.24 metres in length shall be provided with at least three such portable fire extinguishers in such space; provided that where internal combustion machinery is situated in a space to which paragraph (1) applies, only two such portable fire extinguishers need be provided in addition to the extinguishers required by that paragraph.

SHIPS OF CLASS III OF 21.34 METRES IN LENGTH OR OVER

Fire pumps, fire main, water service pipes, hydrants, hoses and nozzles

6.—(1) Every ship of Class III of 21.34 metres in length or over shall be provided with appliances in accordance with this regulation whereby at least one jet of water as required by these Regulations can reach any part of the ship normally accessible to the passengers or crew while the ship is being navigated and any store room and any part of any cargo space when empty.

(2) Every such ship shall be provided with at least one fire pump operated by power. Each such pump shall be capable of delivering at least one jet of water from any fire hydrant, hose and nozzle provided in the ship and shall comply with the requirements of regulation 30.

(3) Every such ship fitted with oil-fired boilers or internal combustion type propulsion machinery shall be provided with an additional fire pump which shall be permanently connected to the fire main but which shall not be required to be operated by power. Such a pump and its source of power, if any, shall not be situated in the same compartment as the pump required by paragraph (2) and shall be provided with a permanent sea connection situated outside the machinery space. If such a pump is operated by power it shall comply with the requirements of paragraph (2) and if it is manually operated it shall be capable of producing a jet of water having a throw of not less than 6 metres from nozzles provided in compliance with this regulation.

(4) Every such ship shall be provided with a fire main, water service pipes, hydrants, hoses and nozzles which shall comply with the requirements of regulations 31 and 32.

(5) Every such ship shall be provided with at least one fire hose for every hydrant fitted in compliance with these Regulations.

(6) Every such ship fitted with oil-fired boilers or internal combustion type machinery shall be provided with at least one fire hydrant in each space containing such boilers or machinery. A nozzle shall be provided for every fire hose at every hydrant fitted in such spaces in compliance with these Regulations.

Portable fire extinguishers

7.  Every ship of Class III of 21.34 metres in length or over shall be provided with at least one portable fire extinguisher in each of the passenger spaces above the bulkhead deck, and with at least two such extinguishers in each of the crew spaces and in each of the passenger spaces below that deck. At least one portable fire extinguisher shall be provided for use in any galley.

Machinery spaces of Category A

8.—(1) In every ship of Class III of 21.34 metres in length or over there shall be provided for the protection of any machinery space of Category A at least one of the following fixed fire-extinguishing systems—

(a)a fixed pressure water-spraying system complying with the requirements of Schedule 2 of Merchant Shipping Notice MSN 1666;

(b)a fixed gas fire-extinguishing system complying with the requirements of Schedule 4 of Merchant Shipping Notice MSN 1666;

(c)a high expansion foam system complying with the requirements of Schedule 8 of Merchant Shipping Notice MSN;

(d)for ships built before 25th May 1980, a foam fire-extinguishing system complying with the requirements of regulation 33.

  • If the engine room and boiler rooms are not entirely separated from each other by a bulkhead or if fuel can drain from the boiler room into the engine room, the combined engine room and boiler room shall, for the purpose of this paragraph, be regarded as a single space.

(2) In addition to the requirements of paragraph (1) there shall be provided—

(a)in each boiler room two or more foam fire extinguishers each of at least 45 litres capacity or carbon dioxide fire extinguishers each of at least 16 kilogrammes capacity; the extinguishers shall be sited so as to be readily accessible in the event of fire and they shall be sufficient in number to enable foam or carbon dioxide to be directed on to any part of the boiler room or spaces containing any part of the oil fuel installation;

(b)in each firing space and in each space which contains any part of any oil fuel installations at least two portable fire extinguishers for extinguishing oil fires;

(c)in each firing space a receptacle containing at least 0.3 cubic metre of sand or other dry material suitable for extinguishing oil fires together with a scoop for its distribution or, alternatively, an additional portable fire extinguisher suitable for extinguishing oil fires.

(3) In addition to the requirements of paragraph (1) there shall be provided in any such space containing internal combustion type machinery—

(a)one foam fire extinguisher of at least 45 litres capacity or a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher of at least 16 kilogrammes capacity; and

(b)portable fire extinguishers suitable for extinguishing oil fires, so located that an extinguisher is not more than 10 metres walking distance from any point in the space, but in no event less than two such extinguishers.

Firemen’s outfits

9.  Every ship of Class III of 21.34 metres in length or over shall carry one fireman’s outfit for each 30.5 metres (or part thereof) of the registered length of the ship. Every such outfit shall comply with the requirements of regulation 37.

Ships of Class III of less than 21.34 metres in length

10.  Regulations 3, 4 and 5 shall apply to ships of Class III of less than 21.34 metres in length as they apply to ships of Class II(A) of less than 21.34 metres in length.

Ships of Class IV of 21.34 metres in length or over

11.  Regulations 6, 7 and 8 shall apply to ships of Class IV of 21.34 metres in length or over as they apply to ships of Class III of 21.34 metres in length or over, except that for ships constructed before 25th May 1980 the requirements in regulation 8(1) shall not apply.

Ships of Class IV of less than 21.34 metres in length

12.  Regulations 3, 4 and 5 shall apply to ships of Class IV of less than 21.34 metres in length as they apply to ships of Class II(A) of less than 21.34 metres in length.

SHIPS OF CLASS VFully-decked ships

13.—(1) Regulations 6, 7 and 8 shall apply to fully-decked ships of Class V of 21.34 metres in length or over as they apply to ships of Class III of 21.34 metres in length or over.

(2) Regulations 3, 4 and 5 shall apply to fully-decked ships of Class V of less than 21.34 metres in length as they apply to ships of Class II(A) of less than 21.34 metres in length.

Ships not fully-decked

14.—(1) Every ship of Class V which is not fully-decked shall be provided with—

(a)a receptacle containing an adequate quantity of sand or other dry material suitable for extinguishing oil fires;

(b)a scoop for distributing the contents of the receptacle;

(c)the number of portable foam fire extinguishers shown in the following table—

Length of ShipNumber of Foam Extinguishers
Not over 9.14 metres2
Over 9.14 metres but under 15.24 metres3
Over 15.24 metres5

(d)in the case of any ship of 12.20 metres in length or over, two fire buckets, and, in the case of any ship of less than 12.20 metres in length, one fire bucket, unless the equipment required by paragraph (2) is provided.

(2) Every ship of Class V which is not fully-decked but is decked in way of the machinery spaces shall be provided in a position outside such spaces with a hand pump, a hose with a 10 millimetre diameter nozzle capable of producing a jet of water having a throw of not less than 6 metres which can be directed onto any part of the ship.

SHIPS OF CLASSES VI AND VI(A)Fully-decked ships

15.—(1) Regulations 6, 7 and 8 shall apply to fully-decked ships of Classes VI and VI(A) of 21.34 metres in length or over as they apply to ships of Class III of 21.34 metres in length or over.

(2) Regulations 3, 4 and 5 shall apply to fully-decked ships of Classes VI and VI(A) of less than 21.34 metres in length as they apply to ships of Class II(A) of less than 21.34 metres in length.

Ships not fully-decked

16.  Regulation 14 shall apply to ships of Classes VI and VI(A) which are not fully-decked as it applies to ships of Class V which are not fully-decked.