Canada Gazette

The purpose of the proposed Boat and Fire Drill and Means of Exit Regulations is to ensure that passengers and crew are familiar with emergency equipment necessary to deal with fire or other emergencies, including abandoning ship.

The proposed Regulations replace the Boat and Fire Drill Regulations, to which minor amendments were required in order to meet commitments made by the Minister of Transport to the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) in 1994 to correct safety deficiencies identified by the TSB as a result of its investigation into shipping accidents. It is the judgment of the Board, and Transport Canada concurs, that the new measures will bring about better protection for passengers and crew in non-pleasure craft shipping.

The proposed Regulations apply to any Canadian ship required to have its hull, machinery and equipment inspected under section 316 of the Canada Shipping Act (CSA), except for fishing vessels of 150 tons gross tonnage or less.

The proposed Regulations would come into force on the day on which they are registered.

The current Boat and Fire Drill Regulations require the maintenance of muster lists by vessels with a crew of more than 12 and passenger vessels with a crew of more than six. Maintaining the status quo would not achieve compliance with the changes requested by the TSB.

The objectives of the amendments recommended by the TSB could be pursued by means other than regulation, such as awareness campaigns. No generally applicable policy instrument is available for prescribing emergency drills and procedures other than these.

The affected industries were invited at the November 1998 National Canadian Marine Advisory Council (CMAC), and subsequently at the May 2002 National CMAC, to propose alternatives which they may consider to be as effective as regulation. No alternatives were proposed by industry.

The Minister is accountable for implementing these new safety measures. In this case, the Minister's undertaking was to amend the existing Regulations to include the more stringent requirement. The regulatory approach is, therefore, the one put forward here.

Accidents continue to occur in the fishing industry and in small-vessel tourism, although these commercial operations are safer than most means of transportation. Implementation of the TSB recommendations will improve the orderly evacuation of an imperiled vessel and promote quick rescue. This will reduce the risk of marine accidents causing the loss of life. The benefit of improved safety is fewer mortalities in marine accidents and a direct benefit to shipowners, operators, mariners and passengers.

Any increase in departmental workload resulting from training Marine Safety Ship Inspectors on the new requirements will be offset by the reduced workload resulting from fewer accidents and a safer marine environment.

In order to keep a muster list on ships with a crew of five to twelve members, as the new Boat and Fire Drill and Means of Exit Regulations will require, some ship owners and operators may incur minimal one-time start-up costs related to creating and posting a muster list. For those ships currently keeping a muster list, there is no additional expense. The total number of ships affected would be somewhere between 500 and 1 000 (the statistics kept on inspected vessels are according to ship size, not crew numbers).

The implementation of the safety briefing immediately before or after the ship embarks on a voyage has a small cost in terms of time spent by staff making the announcement.

Stakeholders have not raised any concerns regarding the potential cost of compliance.

The proposed Regulations were consulted on at the November 1998 National meeting of the CMAC. A consultation document was circulated well in advance to the standing committees of CMAC. These proposed amendments were discussed at the Personnel Standing Committee, which is responsible for the Boat and Fire Drill Regulations.

The members of the standing committees were invited to forward any additional comments by mid-December, 1998. There have been no comments received on these proposals since the CMAC meeting.

Due to the protracted drafting process, and to reflect the modifications to language, the Personnel Standing Committee of CMAC was again consulted at the May 2002 National meeting. All comments received were in favour of the proposed changes.

The new requirements will be monitored and enforced by Transport Canada, Marine Safety Ship Inspectors.

A separate compliance mechanism is not required as boat and fire drill logs and muster lists are currently routinely inspected. Inspectors will be trained to assess the new criteria.

The cost of these activities will not be significant since the current inspection program will be used.

Patricia Sommerville, AMSX, Project Manager, Regulatory Services & Quality Assurance, Transport Canada, Marine Safety, Place de Ville, Tower C, 11th Floor, 330 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N8, (613) 991-2277 (telephone), (613) 991-5670 (facsimile).

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to subsection 562.12(1)(see footnote a) of the Canada Shipping Act, that the Governor in Council, pursuant to section 314 (see footnote b), subsection 338(1)(see footnote c), sections 339 (see footnote d) and 380 (see footnote e) and paragraph 562.1(1)(c)(see footnote f) of that Act, proposes to make the annexed Boat and Fire Drill and Means of Exit Regulations.

Ship owners, masters, seamen and other interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations to the Minister of Transport within 45 days after the publication of this notice. All such representations must be in writing and should cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be sent to Patricia Sommerville, Project Manager, Regulatory and International Affairs, Marine Safety Directorate, Department of Transport, Place de Ville, Tower C, 330 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N8. (Tel.: (613) 991-2277; fax: 613-991-5670)

Persons making representations should identify any of those representations the disclosure of which should be refused under the Access to Information Act, in particular under sections 19 and 20 of that Act, and should indicate the reasons why and the period during which the representations should not be disclosed. They should also identify any representations for which there is consent to disclosure for the purposes of that Act.

"certificated person" has the meaning assigned to the term "qualified person" in section 17 of the Crewing Regulations. (personne brevetée)

"fire alarm signal" means the continuous sounding of a ship's fire alarm bells. (signal d'alarme-incendie)

"general emergency alarm signal" means a succession of seven or more short blasts followed by one long blast on the whistle or siren of a ship. (signal d'alarme générale en cas d'urgence)

"home-trade voyage, Class IV" has the meaning assigned in section 4 of the Home-Trade, Inland and Minor Waters Voyages Regulations. (voyage de cabotage, classe IV)

"marine evacuation system" means an appliance for the rapid transfer of persons from the embarkation deck of a ship to a floating survival craft. (dispositif d'évacuation en mer)

"minor waters voyage, Class II" has the meaning assigned in section 6 of the Home-Trade, Inland and Minor Waters Voyages Regulations. (voyage en eaux secondaires, classe II)

"rescue boat" has the meaning assigned in subsection 2(1) of the Life Saving Equipment Regulations. (canot de secours)

"survival craft" has the meaning assigned in subsection 2(1) of the Life Saving Equipment Regulations. (bateau de sauvetage)

2. These Regulations apply in respect of a Canadian ship that is required to have its hull, machinery and equipment inspected under section 316 of the Act, except for fishing vessels of 150 tons gross tonnage or less.

3. (1) Subject to subsection (4), the master of a ship must, before the ship embarks on a voyage, prepare a muster list, drawn up in either official language or in both, according to the needs of the crew, and post it in conspicuous places throughout the ship, including the navigation bridge, the engine room and the crew accommodations.

(2) If a ship is equipped with a rescue boat, the master of the ship must, before the ship embarks on a voyage, prepare a rescue boat muster list, drawn up in either official language or in both, according to the needs of the crew, and post it in conspicuous places throughout the ship, including the navigation bridge, the engine room and the crew accommodation spaces.

(3) A rescue boat muster list may be a document separate from the muster list referred to in subsection (1) or an addendum to it.

(4) The master of a ship that has a crew of fewer than five members and that does not carry passengers is not required to comply with subsections (1) and (2) if the master of the ship has in place a suitable means of informing members of the crew of the actions that they must take during an emergency.

4. The master of a ship must, before the ship embarks on a voyage, prepare illustrations and instructions, drawn up in both official languages, to inform passengers of their muster stations, the essential actions they must take in an emergency and the method of putting on a lifejacket correctly, and post them in passenger staterooms and conspicuously display them at muster stations and other passenger spaces.

5. The master of a ship must ensure that all of the muster lists and rescue boat muster lists provided for the guidance of the crew and the illustrations and instructions provided for the guidance of passengers during an emergency are kept up to date and in good condition.

(a) the details of the general emergency alarm signal, the fire alarm signal and the public address system;

(c) an indication of the station at which each crew member is to report when the general emergency alarm signal or the fire alarm signal is sounded;

(d) a description of the specific duties that have been assigned to each crew member to carry out when the general emergency alarm signal or the fire alarm signal is sounded, including

(i) the closing of the watertight doors, fire doors, valves, scuppers, side scuttles, skylights, portholes and other similar openings in the ship,

(ii) the equipping of the survival craft and the other life saving equipment,

(iii) ensuring that the radio life saving equipment is placed aboard the appropriate survival craft,

(iv) the preparation and launching of survival craft,

(v) the general preparation of the other life saving equipment,

(vi) the muster of passengers,

(vii) the operation of the communications equipment,

(viii) the duties of fire parties, and

(ix) any special duties assigned in respect of the use of the fire-fighting equipment and installations;

(f) the crew member responsible for each lifeboat and, if applicable, that member's second-in-command; and

(g) in the case of a Safety Convention ship, the crew members who are assigned to ensure that the life saving and fire-fighting equipment and installations are maintained in good condition and are ready for immediate use.

(2) In the case of a ship that carries passengers, a muster list must, in addition to the information set out in subsection (1), contain the following information:

(a) a list of the actions to be taken by passengers when the general emergency alarm signal is sounded and when the fire alarm signal is sounded; and

(b) a description of the duties assigned to crew members to carry out in relation to passengers during an emergency, including

(i) warning the passengers of the emergency,

(ii) ensuring that the passengers are suitably dressed for protection against exposure and have put on their lifejackets correctly,

(iii) assembling the passengers at their designated muster stations,

(iv) keeping order in the passageways and on the stairways and generally controlling the movements of passengers, and

(v) ensuring that a supply of blankets is taken to the survival craft.

(a) ensure that the number of certificated persons required to be on board and employed for each survival craft by sections 19 and 20 of the Crewing Regulations are assigned to that survival craft;

(b) ensure that each certificated person who is available is assigned duties in connection with the preparation and launching of survival craft;

(c) ensure that an equitable distribution of certificated persons, deck officers and persons trained to assist others is made in assigning members of the ship's crew to the crews of the survival craft;

(d) on a ship that carries motorized survival craft, ensure that a person capable of operating the motor and carrying out minor adjustments is assigned to the crew of each motorized survival craft;

(e) ensure that, before the ship embarks on a voyage, a crew member to whom specific duties to be carried out during an emergency are assigned has been informed of the assignment of those duties and is capable of performing them; and

(f) in selecting substitutes for key persons in case those persons become disabled, take into account that different emergencies may call for different actions.

(a) a description of the signal that will be sounded to muster the rescue boat crew to its designated position;

(2) In preparing a rescue boat muster list, the master of a ship must ensure that the number of certificated persons required to be on board and employed for each rescue boat by section 20 of the Crewing Regulations are assigned to that rescue boat.

9. If a change in the crew of a ship necessitates an alteration to the muster list or rescue boat muster list, or both, the master of the ship must ensure that the list or lists are revised or that a new list or lists are made.

10. The master of a ship that carries passengers must have procedures in place for locating and rescuing passengers trapped in their staterooms.

11. Before sounding a signal for the commencement of a drill, the master of a ship must ensure that all passengers are notified, in either official language or in both, according to the needs of the passengers, that a drill will take place and that there is no actual emergency.

12. The master of a ship must ensure that drills, in so far as is practicable, are carried out as if there were an actual emergency.

13. The master of a ship must ensure that any equipment or installations used during a drill are immediately returned to their full operational condition and are ready for immediate reuse, and that any faults or defects discovered in equipment or installations during a drill are remedied as soon as practicable.

14. Unless instructed otherwise in a notification referred to in section 11, if the general emergency alarm signal or the fire alarm signal is sounded, the passengers, if any, must proceed to their designated muster stations and the crew members must report to their designated muster stations and prepare to perform their assigned duties as described in the muster list.

15. (1) If passengers are scheduled to be on board a ship for more than 24 hours, the master of the ship must ensure that a practice muster of passengers and crew be held as soon as practicable but no later than 24 hours after the passengers embark.

(2) If passengers are scheduled to be on board a ship for 24 hours or less and a muster of passengers and crew is not held, the master of the ship must ensure that, immediately before or after the ship embarks on a voyage, a passenger safety briefing is given, by means of an announcement, informing the passengers of the safety and emergency procedures that are relevant to the type and size of the ship.

(3) The announcement shall specify the location of lifejackets, survival craft and muster stations and shall inform the passengers in each area of the ship of the location of the lifejackets and survival craft that are closest to them and the essential actions they must take in an emergency.

(4) The master of a ship must ensure that the announcement is made in either official language or in both, according to the needs of the passengers, and that the announcement is made on the ship's public address system or by other equivalent means likely to be heard by all the passengers.

(5) If new passengers embark after a practice muster of passengers and crew has been held on a ship, it is sufficient that, instead of holding another practice muster of passengers and crew, the master of the ship ensures that, before the ship embarks on a voyage, a passenger safety briefing that meets the requirements of subsection (2) is given to the new passengers, in either official language or in both, according to the needs of the passengers.

16. During a practice muster of passengers and crew, the crew members must perform the duties assigned to them, including

(a) summoning the passengers to their designated muster stations and ensuring that they are made aware of how the order to abandon ship is given;

(b) instructing the passengers on how to dress adequately for protection against exposure and on the donning and use of their lifejackets and ensuring that the passengers have donned their lifejackets correctly;

(c) keeping order in passageways and on stairways and generally controlling the movements of the passengers to their designated muster stations;

(e) ensuring that all of the passengers are accounted for at their designated muster stations; and

(f) instructing the passengers in the action that they must take during an emergency, including how to board survival craft and enter marine evacuation systems at the embarkation stations.

17. (1) On a ship described in column 1 of the schedule that is on a voyage described in column 2, the master of the ship must ensure that a survival craft drill and a fire drill are held at intervals not exceeding the period set out in column 3 of that item.

(2) The master of a ship must ensure that survival craft drills for the crew of the ship are held within 24 hours after the ship embarks on a voyage if more than 25 per cent of the crew did not participate in a survival craft drill on board the ship during the month before the ship embarks.

(3) The master of a ship must ensure that fire drills for the crew of the ship are held within 24 hours after the ship embarks on a voyage if more than 25 per cent of the crew did not participate in a fire drill on board the ship during the month before the ship embarks.

(4) Every member of the crew of a ship must participate in at least one survival craft drill and one fire drill every month.

18. (1) Before a survival craft drill is held, the person in charge and the second-in-command of a survival craft must each have a list of the survival craft crew members, and the person in charge must ensure that the crew members know what their duties are.

(2) During a survival craft drill, the crew members must perform the duties assigned to them in connection with the survival craft drill, including

(b) the preparation for the launching of the survival craft on the ship and ensuring that the equipment and supplies, including a supply of blankets, that are required to be carried in the survival craft are in place and properly stowed;

(c) the inspection and, where practicable, the testing of radio life saving equipment required to be carried in the survival craft;

(e) subject to paragraph (f) and subsection (3), if the ship carries lifeboats, the launching, with assigned crew aboard, and the manoeuvring in the water of one or more lifeboats, so that each lifeboat on the ship, including a lifeboat that is a rescue boat, is launched and manoeuvred in the water, with assigned crew aboard, during a survival craft drill at least once every three months;

(f) if the ship carries free-fall lifeboats, the free-fall launching and manoeuvring of those lifeboats during a survival craft drill at least once every six months and the lowering of the free-fall launched lifeboats to the emergency strop or gripe during all other survival craft drills;

(g) if the ship carries fire-protected lifeboats, the testing of the water spray system and the self-contained air supply for the fire-protected lifeboats at least once every six months;

(h) if the ship carries motor lifeboats, the starting and operation of the lifeboat engines and verification that the fuel tanks are filled to capacity;

(i) if the ship carries survival craft other than lifeboats, participation in instruction in the operation and deployment of those survival craft;

(j) if the ship is fitted with a marine evacuation system, the exercise of the procedures required for the deployment of the system up to the point immediately preceding its actual deployment;

(k) the testing of the emergency lighting for the mustering of passengers and crew and for the abandonment of the ship;

(l) a mock search and rescue of passengers trapped in their state rooms, in accordance with the procedures in place under section 10, and crew members trapped in their accommodations; and

(m) the inspection and testing of the life saving equipment fitted or carried on the ship, other than that referred to in paragraph (c), (g) or (k).

(3) If a ship is at sea, the launching and manoeuvring of the lifeboats during a survival craft drill referred to in paragraph (2)(e) may be replaced by the clearing and swinging out of one or more lifeboats so that each lifeboat carried on the ship is cleared and swung out at least once every month if each lifeboat is launched and manoeuvred in the water, with assigned crew aboard, at least once every three months.

(4) If a ship referred to in subsection (3) is making headway, the master of the ship must ensure that the launching and manoeuvring of the lifeboats during a survival craft drill are carried out in sheltered waters and under the supervision of an officer experienced in launchings and manoeuvrings while a ship is making headway.

(5) During the first survival craft drill in which a crew member participates after joining the ship, the crew member must don an immersion suit or a marine anti-exposure work suit.

19. (1) The master of a ship that is equipped with a rescue boat that is not a lifeboat must ensure that a rescue boat drill is held, separately from any other drill, at least once every month.

(2) During a rescue boat drill, the crew members of each rescue boat must launch and manoeuvre the rescue boat in the water with the assigned crew members aboard.

(3) The master of a ship that is making headway must ensure that the launching and manoeuvring of a rescue boat during a rescue boat drill are carried out in sheltered waters and under the supervision of an officer experienced in launchings and manoeuvrings while a ship is making headway.

(4) During a rescue boat drill, every member of the rescue boat crew must wear a marine anti-exposure work suit.

20. The master of a ship must ensure that fire drills are planned in such a way that due consideration is given to the practice followed in the various emergencies that could occur depending on the type of ship and its cargo.

21. During a fire drill, crew members must perform the duties assigned to them in connection with the fire drill, including

(b) the checking of the operation of fire doors, fire dampers and main inlets and outlets of the ventilation systems;

(c) the closing of fire doors, valves, scuppers, side scuttles, skylights, portholes and other similar openings in the ship;

(d) the inspection and operation of the emergency fire pump using at least two jets of water to show that the pump system is in proper working order;

(e) the testing of two or more fire hoses under pressure so that each fire hose on the ship is tested at least once every three months;

(f) the inspection and testing of the fire-fighting equipment fitted or carried on the ship, other than the fire-fighting equipment referred to in paragraph (d) or (e), including

(i) fire-fighters' outfits and other personal rescue equipment,

(ii) the sprinkler systems,

(iii) the fire alarm systems, and

(iv) the fire detection system;

(g) the inspection and testing of the relevant communications equipment, including the public address systems, alarm systems and klaxons;

(j) the checking of the necessary arrangements for a subsequent abandonment of the ship.

22. (1) The master of a ship must ensure that drills for the operation of watertight doors are held at each survival craft drill and each fire drill.

(2) The master of a ship must ensure that the following, if fitted, are inspected at least once a week:

(a) the watertight doors and all of the mechanisms and indicators of those doors; and

(3) The master of a ship referred to in item 1, 2 or 3 of the schedule that is to make a voyage that exceeds one week in duration must ensure that a drill referred to in subsection (1) is also held before the ship embarks on a voyage.

(4) The master of a ship referred to in item 1, 2 or 3 of the schedule must ensure that all of the watertight doors, both hinged and power operated, in the main transverse bulkheads, in use at sea, are operated daily.

(5) Nothing in subsections (1) to (4) authorizes the opening of a watertight door or other appliance that is required by any regulation to be kept closed.

23. (1) The master of a ship that carries passengers and operates on a regular route where fire-fighting assistance from a fire department on shore is available in the vicinity of one port on the route must ensure that a joint ship and shore fire drill is held on board the ship with the fire department at least once every six months.

(2) The master of a ship that carries passengers and operates on a regular route where fire-fighting assistance from a fire department on shore is available in the vicinity of more than one port on the route must ensure that a joint ship and shore fire drill is held on board the ship with each of the fire departments on a rotating basis so that a drill is held at least once every six months.

(3) During a joint ship and shore fire drill, the master of the ship must ensure that there is made readily available for use by the shoreside fire-fighting personnel, the fire control plan or booklet

(a) in the case of a tanker or combination carrier, required by section 198 of the Hull Construction Regulations to be on board a ship;

(b) in the case of a cargo ship of 500 tons gross tonnage or more, required by section 247 of the Hull Construction Regulations to be on board a ship; and

(c) in any other case, described in subsection 23(1) of Part I of TP 2237, Equivalent Standards for Fire Protection of Passenger Ships, published by Transport Canada, Marine Safety, as amended from time to time.

24. (1) The master of a ship must record and keep the following information:

(b) the details of each survival craft drill, including the details of the inspection and testing of any life saving equipment;

(d) the details of each fire drill, including the details of the inspection and testing of any fire-fighting equipment;

(e) the time at which a watertight door or other appliance referred to in section 22 is opened and the time at which it is closed;

(f) the time at which a watertight door that may be required to be opened at sea for the working of the ship is opened and the time at which it is closed;

(g) the details of each drill for the operation of watertight doors, each inspection of watertight doors and of other appliances referred to in section 22 and any defects disclosed; and

(h) if a muster or drill required by these Regulations is not held, or is held only in part, the circumstances, the extent of the muster or drill and the reason why the muster or drill was not held or was held only in part.

(a) in the official log book, if an official log book is required by section 261 of the Act to be kept in the ship; and

(3) The desk log book or other document referred to in paragraph (2)(b) must be kept on the ship until it is inspected under section 316 of the Act.

25. (1) Every ship made fast at a dock, with passengers on board, shall be provided with more than one means of exit from the ship to the dock.

(a) where the conditions of service will permit, be provided by adequate gangways with means of access to the gangways provided from the various decks in the ship; and

(b) where the conditions of operation will not permit the use of more than one gangway, be provided with adequate means of escape so that passengers are able to reach places of safety in case of fire.

26. The Boat and Fire Drill Regulations (see footnote 1) are repealed.

27. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.