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 D — Fire Safety Measures for Cargo ShipsRegulation 53 : Means of escape |
(a) | In and from all crew and passenger spaces and spaces in which crew are normally employed, other than machinery spaces, stairways and ladders shall be arranged so as to provide ready means of escape to the lifeboat embarkation deck. |
(b) | In machinery spaces, two means of escape, one of which may be a watertight door, shall be provided from each engine room, shaft tunnel and boiler room. In machinery spaces, where no watertight door is available, the two means of escape shall be formed by two sets of steel ladders as widely separated as possible leading to doors in the casing similarly separated and from which access is provided to the embarkation deck. In the case of ships of less than 200 tons gross tonnage, the Administration may dispense with this requirement, due regard being paid to the width and the disposition of the casing. |