7.1 When applying to the Administration for permission
for a watertight door to be qualified as a category A watertight door,
the Company, as defined in SOLAS regulation
IX/1.2, should conduct a risk assessment and consider the ship's
survivability as a primary issue. The scope of the risk assessment
should be balanced against operational needs.
7.2 The Administration, when permitting watertight
doors to remain open, should take into account the outcome of the
risk assessment conducted by the Company, which includes the procedure
for the determination of the impact of open watertight doors on passenger
ship survivability, set out in appendix 1 (hereinafter "floatability
assessment").
7.3 The Administration may continue to permit
those watertight doors (refer to paragraph 6.1), which have been permitted
to remain open during navigation prior to this Guidance becoming effective,
to remain open during navigation. However, this does not restrict
an Administration from reconsidering whether any category A watertight
doors should remain open when operating under the conditions described
in paragraph 9.
7.4 The necessity for a watertight door to remain
open during navigation should be demonstrated by the Company. The
Company should satisfy the Administration with relevant information,
such as operational needs, number of passages through the watertight
door per time unit, alternative passageways around the watertight
door and results from the risk assessment. The Company should also
submit a copy of the relevant sections of their safety management
procedures relating to the operation of watertight doors during navigation,
as well as related information such as restrictions or limitations
on when watertight doors may remain open.
7.5 Before permitting a watertight door to remain
open during navigation, the Administration should evaluate the information
described in 7.1 and 7.4 and verify that:
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.1 the watertight door meets the technical requirements
of SOLAS regulations II-1/13.5.1
to 13.5.3 and 13.6 (previous SOLAS regulations II-1/15.6.1
to 15.6.4), which also includes the requirements in paragraph 7 of
SOLAS regulation II-1/13 (previous
SOLAS regulation II-1/15);
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.2 the floatability assessment (appendix 1) has
been taken into account; and
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.3 the proposed category A watertight door meets
the criteria specified in SOLAS regulation
II-1/22.4 (previous SOLAS regulation II-1/15.9.3).
7.6 The flowchart in appendix 3 and the checklist
for the technical standards of the watertight doors in appendix 2
may be used as guidance in the evaluation.
7.7 It is also important for an Administration
to envisage the conditions under which adjacent watertight doors of
category B or C may be opened during navigation for certain limited
periods of time as permitted by SOLAS regulation
II-1/22.3 (previous SOLAS regulation II-1/15.9.2), with a view
towards preserving watertight subdivision and enhancing survivability.
Additional factors, such as the area in which the ship is operating,
should also be assessed to consider any additional risks or potentially
hazardous situations (see list in paragraph 9 for consideration of
such risks).
7.8 All category A doors shall be clearly indicated
in the ship's stability information and shall always be ready to be
immediately closed. Instructions regarding these watertight doors
should be incorporated in the ship's safety management system and
included in the ship's operational limitations in accordance with
SOLAS chapter V requirements.
7.9 A watertight door should not be permitted
to remain open during navigation in potentially hazardous situations,
if the ship does not meet the floatability criteria given in section
3 in appendix 1 for each associated extent of flooding.
7.10 A watertight door may be permitted to remain
open when operating under normal situations as defined in paragraph
10.3, if the ship does not meet the floatability criteria when the
overall risk assessment indicated a level of safety acceptable to
the Administration.