S.L. 499.12 Art. 24General operational requirements.

(1) Without prejudice to any other provision contained in these regulations, throughout the stay in the ports and internal or territorial waters of Malta, the Master of a ship, bunker barge or owner of a road tanker (where applicable) shall ensure compliance with the following general requirements contained in this regulation:

(a) a ship or bunker barge shall at all times lie afloat, except in the case of a tanker which is certified inert in drydock, as described in regulations 27 and 28;

(b) no ship to which these regulations apply and which is not a certified inerted tanker in a repair yard shall, except for the purposes of transhipment, lie within thirty metres of any other ship without the express written permission of the Authority;

(c) a ship shall at all times be safely moored with good, sound, fibre or wire ropes, such that excessive movement at, or breaking adrift from, the berth, jetty or moorings is avoided and the following requirements must be observed:

(i) all moorings should preferably be of the same materials and construction, except that moorings composed entirely of high elasticity ropes are not permitted;

(ii) within a given mooring pattern, ropes of different elasticity may never be used together in the same direction;

(iii) all wire ropes shall be provided with fibre tails at least 25% stronger than the wires to which they are attached and be of a length which does not exceed one third of the distance between the ship’s side chock and the berth, jetty, or buoy mooring point;

(iv) self tensioning winches fitted with automatic rendering and hauling shall not be used in the automatic mode whilst the ship is moored;

(v) all the features, maintenance procedures and recommendations of the manufacturer concerning the brake holding power of self-stowing mooring winches must be fully understood and observed by all concerned crew members;

(vi) throughout the stay in Maltese ports, the integrity and effectiveness of all moorings, mooring systems and related equipment, must be continually monitored and effectively maintained;

(d) except when proceeding directly to a repair facility on arrival in territorial waters, all overboard and sea valves connected to cargo, slops, sludge or pump-room compartments shall be fully closed and positively sealed, such that they cannot be inadvertently opened and:

(i) all pumproom bilges and wells must be in a clean, dry condition and so maintained;

(ii) in the case of ships in repair facilities, every such ship shall depart such facilities with all bilges and wells clean and dry;

(e) all external openings in a ship’s superstructures, situated on, leading directly to, or overlooking any potential dangerous area on board or potential hazardous zone on shore, with the exception of the pump room, must remain closed throughout all operations related to:

(i) the handling of dangerous cargoes;

(ii) the loading of dangerous cargoes into non gas-free tanks;

(iii) the ballasting of non gas-free tanks;

(iv) ballasting into tanks which have contained dangerous cargoes;

(v) tank cleaning or crude oil washing;

(vi) tank venting or purging;

(vii) gas freeing;

(f) all ventilation or air-conditioning intakes to such places as detailed in paragraph (e) must be closed, unless they can be so adjusted as to prevent the entry of dangerous cargo vapours into such spaces;

(g) when atmospheric conditions are such that there is little air movement and heavy concentrations of dangerous vapour may persist on deck, or the prevailing wind is likely to create eddies on the lee side of a ship’s superstructures which may carry heavy local concentrations of such vented vapour towards the superstructures, the precautions laid down in paragraphs (e) and (f) may have to be extended, or such operations suspended whilst such conditions persist;

(h) the Master shall ensure that all supplies of absorbent materials, except those approved by the Relevant Instruments for the removal of small spills, are stowed in places effectively segregated from any areas where dangerous cargoes may be present and no absorbent materials are allowed to be discarded in any such areas;

(i) throughout a tanker’s stay at any terminal or marine facility’s moorings, jetty or berth, fire hoses shall be connected to the tanker's fire main (one forward and one aft of the cargo manifold) except when undergoing repairs at a repair yard, and:

(i) when monitors are provided they shall be aimed at the manifold and ready for immediate use;

(ii) whilst cargo or ballast operations are being undertaken, if practicable, a pump should maintain pressure on the tanker's fire main, but if this is not possible the fire pump should be in a stand-by condition ready for immediate use;

(iii) throughout a tanker’s stay at any marine terminal/facility moorings, jetty or berth, both the tanker’s and the shore international ship/ shore fire connection shall be conspicuously marked and in immediate readiness for the transfer of water for fire fighting;

(iv) all necessary fire-fighting equipment, including portable fire extinguishers, breathing apparatus, etc. shall be maintained readily available, especially in the vicinity of cargo manifolds;

(j) whether inerted or not, when an electrical storm is anticipated in the vicinity of a ship, or a marine terminal/facility at which a ship is conducting operations as detailed in paragraph (e), all such operations must be stopped. All tank openings and vent-line valves, including the bypass valve, if fitted, on the tank ventilating system must be closed and the cargo and/or crude oil washing systems secured;

(k) no naked lights are permitted on board a ship or within any area, as specified in regulation 34, which is not at that time a designated safe area or certified by a competent person as safe for such purposes. The Master of the ship shall also ensure that these requirements are brought to the attention of all persons employed on any ship, tug, lighter or bunker barge allowed alongside and shall not permit any craft which does not comply with these requirements to approach or remain within such an area;

(l) no repair work of any kind shall be permitted on board a ship prior the issuing by a competent person of the relevant permit(s) ("Hot work/Cold work/Electrical Isolation/Entry", etc.);

(m) throughout a ship’s stay at any mooring, jetty or berth, emergency towing wires ('fire wires') of adequate strength and condition shall be made fast fore and aft (at a jetty or berth, on the off-shore side of the tanker) and their eyes run out and maintained at, or about, the waterline; sufficient slack to enable effective towing-off in an emergency should be retained between the tanker’s bollard and chock and such slack prevented from running out by a rope yarn or other easily broken means;

(n) except when undergoing repair at a repair yard, throughout a tanker’s stay at any terminal or marine facility’s moorings, jetty or berth, its main engines, steering gear and any other equipment essential for manoeuvring shall be maintained in a condition that will enable it to move away from such places at thirty minutes notice;

(o) should such a ship for any reason be unable to comply with the requirements of paragraph (n), the Master must immediately inform the Authority who may thereupon instruct the Master to engage a tug or tugs to be on stand-by throughout the whole of the period during which the ship is unable to so comply. Such tug(s) shall always be engaged at the risk and expense of the ship;

(p) should the Authority consider that inclement weather or other conditions may adversely affect the moorings of a ship, it may instruct its Master to engage recognised tug(s) to stand-by or assist the ship throughout the period that it deems such conditions to persist. Such tug(s) shall always be engaged at the risk and expense of the ship;

(q) except as the Authority may expressly authorise in writing and under specified controlled conditions, no person may enter any cargo compartment or void space, or any other enclosed space on board any ship which may contain dangerous cargo gases or vapours and which has not been issued with an "Entry Permit" by a competent person;

(r) the minimum acceptable general atmospheric requirements for the issuance of an "Entry Permit" are:

(i) the concentrations of any toxic gases which may be likely to be extant in the compartment shall, throughout the compartment, be below the TLV of such gases;

(ii) a steady oxygen level of 21% by volume shall be accomplished and maintained throughout the compartment;

(iii) throughout the compartment, the concentration of any flammable gases likely to be present shall not exceed 1% of the LFL of such gases;

(iv) throughout the whole time that entry is permitted into the compartment, the atmospheric conditions detailed in subparagraphs (i) to (iii), shall be continuously monitored at all levels within the compartment and be so maintained by the provision of continuous and effective forced ventilation: Provided that this permit shall be valid and remain so only when all the other conjoined safety resources and procedures required by the Relevant Instruments are complied with;

(s) the Master of any ship engaged in the carriage of dangerous cargoes, or which is not certified completely gas free, shall not permit on board any unauthorised person, or any authorised person (whether ship’s crew or not) who is deemed to be temporarily impaired in his judgement by reason of intoxication, unless special and effective preparations for their reception has been made;

(t) except as permitted in writing by the Authority, under the proviso that no sources of ignition, including other ships, are within the dangerous area of such ships or hazardous zones ashore, throughout any period when the operations detailed in paragraph (e) are being conducted, no other loading or discharging operations to or from the ship (such as the taking or landing of stores, spare parts, equipment or bunkers) is permitted;

(u) until such time as operations detailed in paragraph (e) have been completed and until such time as a gas free and/or inert certificate for the ship is provided to the Authority, all such and every other ship operation shall at all times be under the control of a duly qualified responsible officer, designated by the Master;

(v) during operations specified in paragraph (u), a responsible shore representative shall be readily available to carry out and give effect to the provisions of that paragraph;

(w) in respect of access to the ship, throughout any period when the operations detailed in paragraph (e) are being conducted, the following requirements must be complied with:

(i) there shall be only one means of access to the ship;

(ii) such access shall be continuously manned by a crew member having close and effective means of communication with the responsible officer in charge of such operations;

(iii) such access shall be located as close to the ship's accommodation and as far away from the ship and shore manifolds as possible;

(iv) gangways and other means of access shall be provided with an effective safety net, properly rigged and have a lifebuoy with lifeline readily available. During the hours of darkness, such means of access shall be effectively illuminated by intrinsically safe means;

(x) throughout the time a ship is at a marine terminal/ facility, the radio transmitting aerials shall be effectively earthed and the following requirements observed:

(i) radio, satellite communications, radar and any other equipment which when operated may emit potentially hazardous levels of radiated energy externally from the ship, or involves the running of non intrinsically safe electrical equipment, shall not be used;

(ii) without prejudice to the preceding provision, correctly installed fixed-installation VHF and/or UHF communications equipment may be used, provided that the power output is not in excess of one watt;

(iii) no repairs involving the activating of any such equipment are permitted without full prior consultation between the Master and the responsible terminal/facility representative and may require the issuing of a work permit.

(2) Any person who fails to comply with the provisions of subregulation (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine (multa) not exceeding nine thousand and three hundred and seventeen euro and forty-nine cents (9,317.49) for each offence.

(3) Any person who fails to comply with any directive given by the Authority in exercise of its powers according to the provisions of subregulation (1), shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine (multa) not exceeding eleven thousand and six hundred and forty-six euro and eighty-seven cents (11,646.87) for each offence, and in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine (multa) not exceeding one thousand and one hundred and sixty-four euro and sixty-nine cents (1,164.69) for every day during which the offence continues.