Regulation 9 – Double Bottoms in Passenger Ships and Cargo Ships Other Than Tankers

  1 This regulation is intended to minimize the impact of flooding from a minor grounding. Special attention should be paid to the vulnerable area at the turn of the bilge. When justifying a deviation from fitting an inner bottom an assessment of the consequences of allowing a more extensive flooding than reflected in the regulation should be provided.

  2 Except as provided in regulations 9.3 and 9.4, parts of the double bottom not extended for the full width of the ship as required by regulation 9.1 should be considered an unusual arrangement for the purpose of this regulation and should be handled in accordance with regulation 9.7.

 If an inner bottom is located higher than the partial subdivision draught d_p , this should be considered an unusual arrangement and should be handled in accordance with regulation 9.7.

  1 Any part of a passenger ship or a cargo ship where a double bottom is omitted in accordance with regulation 9.1, 9.4 or 9.5 shall be capable of withstanding bottom damages, as specified in regulation 9.8. The intent of this provision is to specify the circumstances under which the Administration should require calculations, which damage extents to assume and what survival criteria to apply when double bottoms are not fitted.

  2 The definition of “watertight” in regulation 2.17 implies that the strength of inner bottoms and other boundaries assumed to be watertight should be verified if they are to be considered effective in this context.

 The reference to a “plane” in regulation 9.2 does not imply that the surface of the inner bottom may not be stepped in the vertical direction. Minor steps and recesses need not be considered unusual arrangements for the purpose of this paragraph as long as no part of the inner bottom is located below the reference plane. Discontinuities in way of wing tanks are covered by regulation 9.4.

  1 The term “all service conditions” used in this paragraph means the three loading conditions used to calculate the attained subdivision index A.

  2 The damage extents specified in this paragraph should be applied to all parts of the ship where no double bottom is fitted, as permitted by regulations 9.1, 9.4 or 9.5, and include any adjacent spaces located within the extent of damage. Small wells in accordance with regulation 9.3 do not need to be considered damaged even if within the extent of the damage. Possible positions of the damages are shown in an example below (parts of the ship not fitted with a double bottom are shaded; the damages to be assumed are indicated by boxes).

  1 For the purpose of identifying “large lower holds”, horizontal surfaces having a continuous deck area greater than approximately 30% in comparison with the waterplane area at subdivision draught should be taken to be located anywhere in the affected area of the ship. For the alternative bottom damage calculation, a vertical extent of B/10 or 3 m, whichever is less, should be assumed.

  2 The increased minimum double bottom height of not more than B/10 or 3 m, whichever is less, for passenger ships with large lower holds, is applicable to holds in direct contact with the double bottom. Typical arrangements of ro-ro passenger ships may include a large lower hold with additional tanks between the double bottom and the lower hold, as shown in the figure below. In such cases, the vertical position of the double bottom required to be B/10 or 3 m, whichever is less, should be applied to the lower hold deck, maintaining the required double bottom height of B/20 or 2 m, whichever is less (but not less than 760 mm). The figure below shows a typical arrangement of a modern ro-ro passenger ferry.