15.1 The maximum number of passengers permitted
in any passenger vessel shall be the greatest number permitted by
any of the following criteria or combination of these criteria.
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.1 Length of Rail - one passenger may be permitted
for each 760mm (30 inches) of rail space available to the passengers
at the periphery of the deck, not including rail space in congested
areas, on stairways and where persons standing in the space would
block the vision of the vessel's operators.
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.2 Deck Area - one passenger may be permitted
for each square metre (10 square feet) of free deck area available
for the passengers' use. Free deck area does not include:
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Concession stands, fixed tables,
fixed gambling equipment and similar
furnishings;
Toilets and
washrooms;
Companionways and stairways;
Spaces occupied and necessary for handling lifesaving
equipment or line handling gear or in way of sail booms or running
riggings;
Spaces below deck which are unsuitable for
passengers or which would not normally be used by
passengers;
Interior passageways less than 760 mm (30
inches) wide and passageways on open deck less than 460 mm (18 inches)
wide;
Bow pulpits, swimming platforms and areas which
do not have a solid deck, such as netting on multi-hull
vessels;
Deck areas in way of paddle wheels; and
Aisle area.
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.3 Fixed Seating - one passenger may be permitted
for each 460mm (18 inches) of width of fixed seating provided. (See II/14.4)
15.2 Different passenger capacity criteria may
be used on each deck of a vessel and added together to determine the
maximum number of passengers to be carried on that vessel. Where
seats are provided on part of a deck and not on another, the number
of passengers permitted on a vessel may be the sum of the number permitted
by the seating criterion for the space having seats and the number
permitted by the deck area criterion for the space having no seats.
The length of rail criterion may not be combined with either the
deck area criterion or the fixed seating criterion when determining
the maximum number of passengers permitted on an individual deck.
15.3 The Administration may give special consideration
to increasing the passenger allowances for a vessel operating on short
runs on protected waters, such as a ferry.