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Title 46

Displaying title 46, up to date as of 8/11/2026. Title 46 was last amended 7/30/2026.
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Subpart 113.43—Steering Failure Alarm Systems

§ 113.43-1 Applicability.

This subpart applies to each vessel of 1600 gross tons and over that has power driven main or auxiliary steering gear.

§ 113.43-3 Alarm system.

(a) Each vessel must have a steering failure alarm system that actuates an audible and visible alarm in the pilothouse when the actual position of the rudder differs by more than 5 degrees from the rudder position ordered by the followup control systems, required by part 58, subpart 58.25, of this chapter, for more than:

(1) 30 seconds for ordered rudder position changes of 70 degrees;

(2) 6.5 seconds for ordered rudder position changes of 5 degrees; and

(3) The time period calculated by the following formula for ordered rudder positions changes between 5 degrees and 70 degrees:

t = (R/2.76) + 4.64

Where

t = maximum time delay in seconds

R = ordered rudder change in degrees

(b) The alarm system must be separate from, and independent of, each steering gear control system, except for input received from the steering wheel shaft.

[CGD 74-125A, 47 FR 15272, Apr. 8, 1982, as amended by CGD 94-108, 62 FR 23910, May 1, 1997; USCG-2004-18884, 69 FR 58348, Sept. 30, 2004]

§ 113.43-5 Power supply.

Each steering failure alarm system must be supplied by a circuit that:

(a) Is independent of other steering gear system and steering alarm circuits;

(b) Is fed from the final emergency power source through the emergency distribution panel in the wheelhouse, if installed; and

(c) Has no overcurrent protection except short-circuit protection by an instantaneous fuse or circuit breaker rated or set at 400 to 500 percent of:

(1) The current-carrying capacity of the smallest alarm system interconnecting conductors; or

(2) The normal load of the system.