Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)SchedulesSecond ScheduleProtocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974AnnexChapter II-2 : Construction—Fire Protection, Fire Detection and Fire ExtinctionPart B — Fire Safety Measures for Passenger Ships Carrying More than 36 PassengersRegulation 18 : Main vertical zones and horizontal zones |
(a) | The hull, superstructure and deckhouses shall be subdivided into main vertical zones by “A” Class divisions. Steps and recesses shall be kept to a minimum, but where they are necessary, they shall also be “A” Class divisions. These divisions shall have insulation values in accordance with the applicable tables in Regulation 20 of this Chapter. |
(b) | As far as practicable, the bulkheads forming the boundaries of the main vertical zones above the bulkhead deck shall be in line with watertight subdivision bulkheads situated immediately below the bulkhead deck. |
(c) | Such bulkheads shall extend from deck to deck and to the shell or other boundaries. |
(d) | Where a main vertical zone is subdivided by horizontal “A” Class divisions into horizontal zones for the purpose of providing an appropriate barrier between sprinklered and non-sprinklered zones of the ship the divisions shall extend between adjacent main vertical zone bulkheads and to the shell or exterior boundaries of the ship and shall be insulated in accordance with the fire insulation and integrity values given in Table 3 of Regulation 20 of this Chapter. |
(e) | On ships designed for special purposes, such as automobile or railroad car ferries, where the provision of main vertical zone bulkheads would defeat the purpose for which the ship is intended, equivalent means for controlling and limiting a fire shall be substituted and specifically approved by the Administration. |
Provided that in a ship with special category spaces, any such space shall comply with the applicable provisions of Regulation 30 of this Chapter, and in so far as such compliance would be inconsistent with compliance with other requirements of this Part of this Chapter, the requirements of Regulation 30 shall prevail.