Dear Consultee

The Merchant Shipping (Additional Safety Measures for Bulk Carriers (Amendment) Regulations 2004 – Water Level Detectors in Cargo, Ballast and Dry Spaces -  Availability of Pumping Systems.

The purpose of this consultation is to seek comments on the new Safety of Life at Sea regulation requiring the fitting of Water Level Detectors in Bulk Carrier cargo ships.

Background

Cargo Ships of the Bulk Carrier configuration are to be required to fit water level detectors in all cargo holds, ballast spaces forward of collision bulkheads, and dry or void spaces forward of the cargo holds.  Equipment for draining or pumping out ballast spaces forward of collision bulkheads, and dry spaces forward of the cargo holds, is to be capable of being brought into operation from a readily accessible location, if necessary by means of remote valve control and (depending on depending on the location of relevant pumps) remote starting arrangements for those pumps.

Bulk carriers are minimum freeboard ships, as a result of which the weather decks, when on loaded passages, are sometimes not easily made safe for access.  Cargo holds are typically filled with high density, low volume cargoes leaving large voids which could be susceptible to flooding.  Ballast spaces are normally empty on loaded voyages, hence also with a possible susceptibility to flooding. Accidental flooding of such cargo holds and other fore end spaces which are remote from accommodation and service spaces is a hazard which must be detected early and acted upon.  On current designs of bulk carrier it may often be impossible to detect the presence of water in or pump out such spaces without first crossing weather decks to take soundings, set valves or in some cases to access pump controls.  This regulation seeks to remove the need to access weather decks for such purposes.

Summary

I attach a draft Statutory Instrument and Regulatory Impact Assessment intended to be in force by late summer, and should be grateful for any comments (by letter, fax or email) by 16 July 2004.

Yours faithfully

Richard Blakemore

Shipping Safety Branch