Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)

Schedules

Second Schedule

Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974

Annex

Chapter II-2 : Construction—Fire Protection, Fire Detection and Fire Extinction

Part A — General

Regulation 13 : Automatic fire alarm and fire detection systems
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Requirements for passenger ships carrying more than 36 passengers

 

(a)

(i)Any required automatic fire alarm and fire detection system shall be capable of immediate operation at all times and no action of the crew shall be necessary to set it in operation.
(ii)Each section of detectors shall include means for giving a visual and audible alarm signal automatically at one or more indicating units whenever any detector comes into operation. Such units shall give an indication of any fire and its location in any space served by the system and shall be centralized on the navigating bridge or in the main fire control station which shall be so manned or equipped as to ensure that any alarm from the system is immediately received by a responsible member of the crew. Such alarm system shall be constructed so as to indicate if any fault occurs in the system.

 

(b)Detectors shall be grouped into separate sections each covering not more than 50 rooms served by such a system and containing not more than 100 detectors. A section of detectors shall not serve spaces on both the port and starboard sides of the ship nor on more than one deck and neither shall it be situated in more than one main vertical zone except that the Administration, if it is satisfied that the protection of the ship against fire will not thereby be reduced, may permit such a section of detectors to serve both the port and starboard sides of the ship and more than one deck.

 

(c)The system shall be operated by an abnormal air temperature, by an abnormal concentration of smoke or by other factors indicative of incipient fire in any one of the spaces to be protected. Systems which are sensitive to air temperature shall not operate at less than 57°C (135°F) and shall operate at a temperature not greater than 74°C (165°F) when the temperature increase to those levels is not more than 1°C (1,8°F) per minute. At the discretion of the Administration the permissible temperature of operation may be increased to 30°C (54°F) above the maximum deckhead temperature in drying rooms and similar places of a normally high ambient temperature. Systems which are sensitive to smoke concentration shall operate on the reduction of the intensity of a transmitted light beam by an amount to be determined by the Administration. Other equally effective methods of operation may be accepted at the discretion of the Administration. The detection system shall not be used for any purpose other than fire detection.

 

(d)The detectors may be arranged to operate the alarm by the opening or closing of contacts or by other appropriate methods. They shall be fitted in an overhead position and shall be suitably protected against impact and physical damage. They shall be suitable for use in a marine atmosphere. They shall be placed in an open position clear of beams and other objects likely to obstruct the flow of hot gases or smoke to the sensitive element. Detectors operated by the closing of contacts shall be of the sealed contact type and the circuit shall be continuously monitored to indicate fault conditions.

 

(e)At least one detector shall be installed in each space where detection facilities are required and there shall be not less than one detector for each 37 square metres (400 square feet) of deck area. In large spaces the detectors shall be arranged in a regular pattern so that no detector is more than 9 metres (30 feet) from another detector or more than 4,5 metres (15 feet) from a bulkhead.

 

(f)There shall be not less than two sources of power supply for the electrical equipment used in the operation of the fire alarm and fire detection system, one of which shall be an emergency source. The supply shall be provided by separate feeders reserved solely for that purpose. Such feeders shall run to a changeover switch situated in the control station for the fire detection system. The wiring system shall be so arranged to avoid galleys, machinery spaces and other enclosed spaces having a high fire risk except in so far as it is necessary to provide for fire detection in such spaces or to reach the appropriate switchboard.

 

(g)        

(i)A list or plan shall be displayed adjacent to each indicating unit showing the spaces covered and the location of the zone in respect of each section. Suitable instructions for testing and maintenance shall be available.
(ii)Provision shall be made for testing the correct operation of the detectors and the indicating units by supplying means for applying hot air or smoke at detector positions.

 

(h)Spare detector heads shall be provided for each section of detectors to the satisfaction of the Administration.

 

Requirements for all other types of ships

 

(i)All required fire detection systems shall be capable of automatically indicating the presence or indication of fire and also its location. Indicators shall be centralized either on the navigating bridge or in other control stations which are provided with a direct communication with the bridge. The Administration may permit the indicators to be distributed among several stations.

 

(j)In passenger ships electrical equipment used in the operation of required fire detection systems shall have two separate sources of power, one of which shall be an emergency source. (k) The alarm system shall operate both audible and visible signals at the main stations referred to in paragraph (i) of this Regulation. Detection systems for cargo spaces need not have audible alarms.