Arrangement for oil fuel, lubricating oil and other flammable oils

(1) The following limitations shall apply to the use of oil as fuel– (a) except as otherwise permitted by this paragraph, no oil fuel with a flashpoint of less than 600°C shall be used; (b) in emergency generators oil fuel with a flashpoint of not less than 43°C shall be used; (c) subject to such additional precautions as it may consider necessary and on condition that the ambient temperature of the space in which such oil fuel is stored or used shall not be allowed to rise to within 10°C below the flashpoint of the oil fuel, the Administration may permit the general use of oil fuel having a flashpoint of less than 60°C but not less than 43°C; (d) in cargo ships, the use of fuel having a lower flashpoint than otherwise specified in this Merchant Ships (Registration) 185 paragraph, for example, crude oil, may be permitted provided that such fuel is not stored in any machinery space and subject to the approval of the complete installation by the Administration. (2) The flashpoint of oils shall be determined by an approved closed cup method. (3) In a ship in which oil fuel is used, the arrangements for the storage distribution and utilization of the oil fuel shall be such as to ensure the safety of the ship and persons on board and shall at least comply with the following provisions– (a) as far as practicable, parts of the oil fuel systems containing heated oil under pressure exceeding 0.18 N/mm2 shall not be placed in a concealed position such that defects and leakage cannot readily be observed. The machinery spaces in way of such parts of the oil fuel shall be adequately illuminated; (b) as far as practicable, oil fuel tanks shall be part of the ship’s structure and shall be located outside machinery spaces of category A. Where oil fuel tanks, other than double bottom tanks, are necessarily located adjacent to, or within, machinery spaces of category A, at least one of their vertical sides shall be contiguous to the boundaries, and shall preferably have a common boundary with the double bottom tanks, where fitted, and the area of the tank boundary common with the machinery spaces shall be kept to the minimum. Where such tanks are situated within the boundaries of machinery spaces of category A, they shall not contain oil fuel having a flashpoint of less than Merchant Ships (Registration) 186 60°C. In general, the use of free-standing oil fuel tanks shall be avoided. Where permitted, they shall be provided with an oiltight spill tray of suitable size having a drain pipe leading to a safe place to the satisfaction of the Administration; (c) every oil fuel pipe, which, if damaged, would allow oil to escape from the storage, settling or daily service tank situated above the double bottom shall be fitted with a cock or valve constructed of similar material to that of the tank, directly on the tank capable of being closed from a safe position outside the space concerned in the event of a fire occurring in the space in which such tanks are situated. Such tanks of not more than 250 L capacity need not comply with this paragraph; (d) safe and efficient means of ascertaining the amount of oil fuel contained in any oil fuel tank shall be provided. Sounding pipes shall not terminate in any space where the risk of ignition of spillage from the sounding pipe might arise. In particular, they shall not terminate in accommodation spaces. Other means of ascertaining the amount of oil contained in any oil fuel tank may be permitted, provided that the failure of such means or overfilling of the tanks will not permit release of fuel. The Administration may permit the use of oil level gauges with flat glasses and self-closing valves between the gauge glasses and the oil tanks. Cylindrical gauge glasses may also be permitted in free standing oil fuel tanks provided that they are suitably protected and fitted with self-closing valves to the satisfaction of the Administration; Merchant Ships (Registration) 187 (e) provision shall be made to prevent overpressure in any oil tank or in any part of the oil fuel system including the filling pipes. Relief valves and air or over-flow pipes shall discharge to a position which in the opinion of the Administration is safe. The open ends of air pipes shall be fitted with wire mesh; (f) the ventilation of machinery spaces shall be sufficient under all normal conditions to prevent accumulation of oil vapour. (3) The arrangements for storage, distribution and utilization of oil used in pressure lubricating systems shall be such as to ensure the safety of the ship and persons on board, and such arrangements in machinery spaces of category A and whenever practicable in other machinery spaces shall at least comply with the provisions of subregulation (2)(a), (c), (d) and (e), except that this does not preclude the use of sight flow glasses in lubricating systems provided that they are shown by test to have a suitable degree of fire resistance. (4) The arrangements for storage, distribution and utilization of other flammable oils employed under pressure in power transmission systems, control and activation systems and heating systems shall be such as to ensure the safety of the ship and persons on board. In locations where means of ignition are present, such arrangements shall at least comply with the provisions of subregulation (2). (5) No oil fuel tank or lubricating oil tank or any other flammable oil tank shall be situated where spillage of leakage therefrom can constitute a hazard by falling on heating surfaces. Precautions shall be taken to prevent any oil that may escape under pressure or oil-leakage from any pump, filter, piping system or heat exchanger from coming into contact with heated surfaces or enter into machinery air intakes. Where necessary, a suitable spill tray or gutter screen or other suitable arrangement shall be provided to allow oil to drain to a safe place in the event Merchant Ships (Registration) 188 of spillage or leakage of oil from such an oil tank, machinery, equipment or system. The number of joints in piping systems shall be kept to a minimum practicable. (6) Pipes, fittings and valves handling fuel oil, lubricating oil and other flammable oils shall be of the steel or other approved material, except that restricted use of flexible pipes shall be permissible in positions where the Administration is satisfied that they are necessary. Such flexible pipes and end attachments shall be of approved fire-resisting materials of adequate strength and shall be constructed to the satisfaction of the Administration. (7) Oil fuel, lubricating oil or other liquid substances flammable or harmful to the marine environment shall not be carried in forepeak tanks. (8) Any oil or other substances flammable or harmful to the marine environment shall not be carried in other tanks or spaces which are not specially approved by the Administration for such purposes.