Hull Construction Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1431)

12. (1) Every ship shall be so constructed as to provide sufficient intact stability in all service conditions to enable the ship to withstand the final flooding of any one of the main compartments into which the ship is subdivided in accordance with the provisions of section 9; if two of the main compartments, being adjacent to each other, are separated by a bulkhead that is stepped, the intact stability shall be adequate to withstand the final flooding of those compartments; if the ship’s factor of subdivision is 0.5 or less, the intact stability shall be adequate to withstand the final flooding of any two of the main compartments that are adjacent to each other.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the sufficiency of the intact stability of every such ship shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of Schedule II.

(3) Every ship shall be so constructed as to keep unsymmetrical flooding when the ship is in a damaged condition at the minimum consistent with efficient arrangements; if cross-flooding fittings are provided in any such ship, the fittings and the maximum heel of the ship before equalization shall be such as will not endanger the safety of the ship.

(4) Where the margin line may become submerged during the flooding assumed for the purposes of the calculation referred to in Schedule II, the construction of the ship shall be such as will enable the master of the ship to ensure

• (a) that the maximum angle of heel during any stage of such flooding will not be such as will endanger the safety of the ship; and

• (b) that the margin line will not be submerged in the final stage of flooding.

(5) In every ship the owner shall provide a document for the use of the master of the ship containing information as to the use of any cross-flooding fittings provided in the ship.

(6) In every ship the owner shall provide a document for the use of the master of the ship containing

• (a) information necessary for the maintenance of sufficient intact stability under service conditions to enable the ship to withstand damage to the extent referred to in Schedule II; and

• (b) information as to the conditions of stability on which the calculations of heel have been based, together with the information that excessive heeling may result if the ship sustains damage when in a less favourable condition.

13. (1) Every part of a ship required to be watertight shall be of such strength and construction as to be capable of supporting the greater of whichever of the following pressures that the part might have to sustain in the event of damage to the ship:

• (a) the pressure of a head of water up to the margin line; or

• (b) the pressure of the maximum head of water.

(2) In every ship all tanks, including double bottoms, peak tanks, settling tanks and bunkers, forming part of the structure of the ship and used for the storage of oil fuel or other liquids, shall be of a design and construction adequate for that purpose.

14. (1) In every ship the number of openings in bulkheads and other structures required to be watertight shall be the minimum compatible with the design and proper working of the ship.

(2) So far as practicable, trunks installed in connection with ventilation, forced draught or refrigeration systems in any ship shall not pierce such bulkheads or structures.

(3) Every tunnel above the double bottom, if any, in a ship, whether for access from the crew space to the machinery space, for piping or for any other purpose, which passes through a bulkhead, shall be watertight; the means of access to at least one end of such tunnel, if it may be used as a passage at sea, shall be through a trunkway extending watertight to a height sufficient to permit access above the margin line; the means of access to the other end of the tunnel shall be through a watertight door; no tunnel shall extend through the first subdivision bulkhead abaft the collision bulkhead.

(4) Not more than one doorway, other than a bunker or tunnel doorway, shall pierce a watertight bulkhead in the machinery space in any ship; if any such bulkhead is pierced by a doorway the doorway shall be placed so as to have the sill as high as possible in the ship.

(5) Doorways, manholes and access openings shall not be fitted in the collision bulkhead below the margin line of any ship or in any other bulkhead that is required to be watertight and divides a cargo space from another cargo space or from a permanent or reserve bunker; the Board may permit any such ship to be fitted with doorways in bulkheads dividing two between deck cargo spaces if it is satisfied that

• (a) the doorways are necessary for the proper working of the ship;

• (b) the number of such doorways is the minimum compatible with the design and proper working of the ship, and the doorways are fitted at the highest practicable level; and

• (c) the outboard vertical edges of such doorways are situated at a distance from the ship’s shell plating which is not less than one fifth of the breadth of the ship, such distance being measured at right angles to the centre line of the ship at the level of the deepest subdivision load water line.

(6) In every ship

• (a) bulkheads outside the machinery space that are required to be watertight shall not be pierced by openings that are capable of being closed only by portable bolted plates; and

• (b) where portable bolted plates are permitted in machinery space bulkheads, the master and persons in charge of the navigation and engine room watches shall ensure that such plates are in place before the ship leaves port and are not removed during navigation except in the case of urgent necessity, and the master shall ensure that notices to this effect are posted in the Chart Room and at the openings on each side of the bulkhead.

(7) In every ship

• (a) valves and cocks not forming part of a pipe system shall not be fitted in any bulkhead required to be watertight;

• (b) where a watertight bulkhead is pierced by pipes, scuppers, electric cables or other similar fittings, provision shall be made that will ensure that the watertightness of the bulkhead is not thereby impaired; and

• (c) the collision bulkhead shall not be pierced below the margin line by more than one pipe, provided that if the forepeak is divided to hold two different kinds of liquids the collision bulkhead may be pierced below the margin line by not more than two pipes; any pipe which pierces the collision bulkhead shall be fitted with a screwdown valve capable of being operated from above the bulkhead deck, the valve chest being secured to the forward side of the collision bulkhead.