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Means of access for cargo ships - general arrangement and construction

Safety guideline

The means of access to cargo vessel should be checked to ensure that it is safe to use after rigging. There should be further checks to ensure that adjustments are made when necessary due to tidal movements or change of trim and freeboard. Guard ropes, chains etc. should be kept taut at all times and stanchions should be rigidly secured. Each end of a gangway or accommodation or other ladder should provide safe access to a safe place or to an auxiliary safe access.

Gangways must be carried on ships of 30 metres in length or over and accommodation ladders must be carried on ships of 120 metres in length or over, complying with the specifications below. Access equipment must be of good construction, sound material and adequate strength, free from patent defect and properly maintained.

Gangways and accommodation ladders must be clearly marked with the manufacturer's name, the model number, the maximum designed angle of use and the maximum safe loading both by numbers of persons and by total weight.

Gangways must comply with the specifications and must be fitted with suitable fencing along their entire length.


Accomodation ladders

Accommodation ladders should be designed such that :

i)it rests firmly against the side of the ship;

ii) the angle of slope is no more than 55º. Treads and steps should provide a safe foothold at the angle at which the ladder is used;

iii) it is fitted with suitable fencing (preferably rigid handrails) along its entire length, except that fencing at the bottom platform may allow access from the outboard side;

iv) the bottom platform is horizontal, and any intermediate platforms are self-levelling.

When the inboard end of the gangway or accommodation ladder rests on or is flush with the top of the bulwark, a bulwark ladder should be provided. Any gap between the bulwark ladder and the gangway or accommodation ladder should be adequately fenced to a height of at least 1 metre.





Rope Ladders

A rope ladder must be of adequate width and length and so constructed that it can be efficiently secured to the ship.

i) The steps must provide a slip-resistant foothold of not less than 400 mm x 115 mm x 25 mm and must be so secured that they are firmly held against twist, turnover or tilt.

ii) The steps must be horizontal and equally spaced at intervals of 310 mm (± 5mm).

iii) The side ropes, which should be a minimum of 18mm in diameter, should be equally spaced.

iv) There should be no shackles, knots or splices between rungs.

v) Ladders of more than 1.5 metres in length must be fitted with spreaders not less than 1.8 metres long. The lowest spreader must be on the fifth step from the bottom and the interval between spreaders must not exceed nine steps. The spreaders should not be lashed between steps.



Access for Pilots

In addition to the standards above, every pilot ladder should be positioned and secured so that:

i) it is clear of any possible discharges from the ship;

ii) it is, where practicable, within the mid-ship half-section of the ship

iii) it is firmly secured to the ship's side; and

iv) the person climbing it can safely and conveniently board the ship after climbing no more than 9 metres.

Where replacement steps are fitted, they should be secured in position by the method used in the original construction of the ladder. No pilot ladder should have more than two replacement steps secured in position by a different method. Where a replacement step is secured by means of grooves in the sides of the step, such grooves should be in the longer sides of the step.

Two man-ropes of not less than 28 mm in diameter, properly secured to the ship should be provided.

Safe, convenient and unobstructed access should be provided to anyone embarking or disembarking between the ship and the head of the pilot ladder.

Where access to the ship is by a gateway in the rails or bulkhead, adequate handholds should be provided. Shipside doors used for this purpose should not open outwards.

Where access is by bulwark ladder, the ladder should be securely attached to the bulwark rail or landing platform. Two handhold stanchions should be provided, between 700mm and 800mm apart, each of which should be rigidly secured to the ship's structure at or near its base and at another higher point. The stanchions should be at least 40mm in diameter and extend no less than 1.20 metres above the top of the bulwarks.

Where the freeboard of the ship is more than 9 metres, accommodation ladders must be provided on each side of the ship.

Such accommodation ladders should comply with the standards in paragraph 5 above, and in addition:

i) the pilot ladder should extend at least 2 metres above the accommodation ladder's bottom platform;

ii) if a trap door is fitted in the bottom platform to allow access to the pilot ladder, the opening should be no less than 750mm square, and the after part of the bottom platform should be fenced as the rest of the ladder. In this case, the pilot ladder should extend above the lower platform to the height of the handrail.


Maintenance requirement for means of access to cargo ships- Safety guideline

Means of access, if any, to the area under inspection (particularly ladders and stairs), to be in a safe condition, well lit and unobstructed. If any means of access is in a dangerous condition, for instance when a ladder has been removed, is the danger suitably blocked off and warning notices posted.

Access thorough the area of inspection both for transit and working purposes clearly marked, well lit, unobstructed and safe. Fixtures and fittings over which seamen might trip or which project, particularly overhead, thereby causing potential hazards, suitably painted or marked.

Any gear, which has to be stowed within the area, suitably secured. All guard-rails in place, secure and in good condition. All openings through which a person could fall, to be suitably fenced. Portable ladders in use, to be properly secured and at a safe angle.

Merchant Shipping Regulations require the owner to provide pilot ladders, accommodation ladders and hoists which comply with the construction and testing requirements laid out in the Regulations.

In addition, the Regulations require the master to ensure that:

i) each pilot ladder, accommodation ladder, hoist and associated equipment is properly maintained and stowed, and regularly inspected to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, each is safe to use.

ii) each pilot ladder and hoist is used only for the embarkation and disembarkation of pilots and by officials and other persons while a ship is arriving at or leaving a port.

iii) the rigging of the pilot ladder, accommodation ladder, hoist and associated equipment is supervised by a responsible officer who is in communication with the navigating bridge.This officer's duties will include arranging for the pilot to be escorted by a safe route to and from the bridge.

iv) personnel engaged in rigging or operating any mechanical equipment are instructed in the safe procedures to be adopted and that the equipment is to be tested prior to each use.

vi) A safety-line and harness, a life-buoy with a self-igniting light, and a heaving line should be kept at hand ready for use.

vii) The pilot ladder or hoist overside and its controls, and also the position where the person embarks and disembarks on the ship should be adequately lit.

viii) The owner and the master must ensure that there is on board a copy of the approved manfacturer's maintenance manual for the hoist, containing a maintenance log book.The hoist must be maintained in accordance with the maintenance manual, and a record kept by the responsible officer in the maintenance log book.

ix) The master is required to ensure that the hoist is subject to regular test rigging and inspection. Such tests should be carried out by designated ship's personnel at regular intervals. All tests should be logged.



Safe Movement

Merchant Shipping Regulations place an obligation on both the master of a ship and the employer of the master to ensure that a safe means of access is provided and maintained to any place on the ship to which a person may be expected to go.

Places on the ship where people may be expected to be include accommodation areas as well as normal places of work. "Persons" in this context include passengers, dock-workers, and other visitors to the ship on business but exclude persons who have no right to be on the ship.

All deck surfaces used for transit about the ship and all passageways, walkways and stairs must be properly maintained and kept free from substances liable to cause a person to slip or fall.

Areas used for the loading or unloading of cargo or for other work processes or for transit should be adequately and appropriately illuminated.

For areas used for loading or unloading of cargo or for other work processes a lighting level of at least 20 lux should be provided and for transit areas a level of at least 8 lux should be provided (measured at a height of 1 metre above the surface level) unless:-

(a) a higher level is required by other Regulations, eg the Crew Accommodation Regulations; or,

(b) provision of such levels of lighting would contravene other Regulations, eg the Collision Regulations and the Distress Signals Order.

The employer and master are also responsible for ensuring that any permanent safety signs displayed on board the ship comply with the Regulations and Merchant Shipping Notice.

Any opening, open hatchway or dangerous edge into, through or over which a person may fall shall be fitted with secure guards or fencing of adequate design and construction. These requirements do not apply where the opening is a permanent access way, or where work is in progress which could not be carried out with the guards in place.

All ship's ladders must be of good construction and sound material, strong enough for the purpose for which they are used, free from patent defect and properly maintained.

Suitable hand-holds should be provided at the top and at any intermediate landing place of all fixed ladders.

The Regulations also require the employer and master to ensure that ship's powered vehicles (which includes mobile lifting plant) are only driven by a competent person who is authorised to do so, and to ensure that they are used safely. Such vehicles must be properly maintained.


Gangways and accomodation ladders - Prevention of corrosion and maintenance requirement

Aluminium alloys are highly susceptible to galvanic corrosion in a marine atmosphere if they are used in association with dissimilar metals. Great care should be exercised when connecting mild steel fittings, whether or not they are galvanised, to accommodation ladders and gangways constructed of aluminium.

Plugs and joints of neoprene, or other suitable material, should be used between mild steel fittings, washers, etc and aluminium. The plugs or joints should be significantly larger than the fittings or washers.

Repairs using mild steel doublers or bolts made of mild steel or brass or other unsuitable material should be considered as temporary. Permanent repairs, or the replacement of the means of access, should be undertaken at the earliest opportunity.

The manufacturer's instructions should give guidance on examination and testing of the equipment. However, close examination of certain parts of accommodation ladders and gangways is difficult due to their fittings and attachments. It is essential, therefore, that the fittings are removed periodically for a thorough examination of the parts most likely to be affected by corrosion.

Accommodation ladders and gangways should be turned over to allow for a thorough examination of the underside. Particular attention should be paid to the immediate perimeter of the fittings; this area should be tested for corrosion with a wire probe or scribe. Where the corrosion appears to have reduced the thickness of the parent metal to 3 mm, back plates should be fitted inside the stringers of the accommodation ladder or gangways.




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