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| Bilge Systems | 169.650 – 169.654 | ||||||||||
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33 U.S.C. 1321(j); 46 U.S.C. 3306, 6101; Pub. L. 103-206, 107 Stat. 2439; E.O. 11735, 38 FR 21243, 3 CFR, 1971-1975 Comp., p. 793; DHS Delegation 00170.1, Revision No. 01.4; § 169.117 also issued under the authority of 44 U.S.C. 3507.
CGD 83-005, 51 FR 896, Jan. 9, 1986, unless otherwise noted.
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Subscribe to: 46 CFR Part 169 Subpart 169.600 - Bilge Systems
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All vessels must be provided with a satisfactory arrangement for draining any compartment, other than small buoyancy compartments, under all practical conditions. Sluice valves are not permitted in watertight bulkheads except as specified in § 169.652(a).
(a) All vessels of 26 feet in length and over must be provided with individual bilge lines and suction for each compartment except that the space forward of the collision bulkhead may be serviced by a sluice valve or portable bilge pump if the arrangement of the vessel is such that ordinary leakage can be removed this way.
(b) The bilge pipe on vessels 65 feet in length and under must be not less than one inch nominal pipe size. On vessels greater than 65 but less than 120 feet in length the bilge pipe must be not less than one and one-half inches. Piping on vessels of 120 feet or greater or of 100 gross tons or greater must meet the requirements contained in § 56.50-50 of this chapter.
(c) Each bilge suction must be fitted with a suitable strainer having an open area not less than three times the area of the bilge pipe.
(d) Each individual bilge suction line must be led to a central control point or manifold. Each line must be provided with a stop valve at the control point or manifold and a check valve at some accessible point in the bilge line, or a stop-check valve located at the control point or manifold.
(e) Each bilge pipe piercing the collision bulkhead must be fitted with a screw-down valve located on the forward side of the collision bulkhead and operable from above the weather deck.
(a) Vessels of less than 65 feet in length must have a portable hand bilge pump having a maximum capacity of 5 gpm.
(b) In addition to the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, vessels of 26 feet but less than 40 feet in length must have a fixed hand bilge pump or fixed power bilge pump having a minimum capacity of 10 gpm. If a fixed hand pump is installed, it must be operable from on deck.
(c) In addition to the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, vessels of 40 feet but less than 65 feet must have a fixed power bilge pump having a minimum capacity of 25 gpm.
(d) Vessels of 65 feet in length but less than 120 feet and under 100 gross tons must have two fixed power bilge pumps having a combined minimum capacity of 50 gpm.
(e) Vessels of 120 feet or greater and vessels of 100 gross tons and over must have two fixed power pumps meeting the capacity requirements of § 56.50-55(c) of this chapter.
(f) Each power driven bilge must be self priming.
(g) Each fixed bilge pump required by this section must be permanently connected to the bilge main.
(h) Bilge pumps may also be connected to the firemain provided that the bilge system and firemain system may be operated simultaneously.