Maritime regulations.

[XabbaRus]

If I were to build a vessel with a 200 POB (Persons on Board) and the vessel is a barge and the units on the barge are modular, ie they can be taken on and off to meet requirements so either less than 200 POB but not more. What would said accommodation barge be classed as eg ship, flotel, barge. What maritime regs would govern its construction, eg number of toilets per crew size of recreation facilitied etc.

Oh and assume UK and European Waters in terms of strictness of the regs.

Links would be good. I am searching myself but it is a PITA.

Cheers

[Etienne]

You're essentially talking about building a collection of passenger-carrying barges that can be assembled in a composite unit with a maximum capacity of 200 passengers, right? Or total personnel capacity? Generally, regulations are in terms of passengers carried, not total persons on board, as the number of crewmembers doesn't really impact the classification of the vessel, except in specific areas.

If the modules are self propelled, they're ships, if they carry more than 12 paying passengers they're passengers ships. If they're not self-propelled, they're barges and if they're joined together by a rigid connection, the whole is a composite unit. A flotel would be permanently moored, and a whole different animal.

The barges would be classified as passenger vessels if they're rated for more than 12 passengers. I have never heard of passenger barges, so I don't know if there are specific regulation pertaining to them.

If the barges are used as work barges, and the 200 persons are crew members, then it's a bit different, as you have to meet workplace safety and sanitation regs, on top of union agreement regs, if applicable.

Safety regs would be depending on the trading patterns of the vessel (IE, SOLAS or local regs) Workplace safety / sanitation (IE, the number of toilets) are generally a flag state requirement.

You could probably get more precise info by contacting your local marine safety authority. I'm not sure what the project you're describing is, really, and I'm not familliar with UK regulations.

Think of every barge as a separate unit, that'll make your search easier.

[XabbaRus]

Ok it would be a dumb barge, onto which would be placed a group of modules fitted out for different purposes to form a complex that would have a POB of 200.

Basically it is a flotel type of thing.

[swifty]

What type of environment will it be in. IE Open ocean, river/lake or permanently moored. Depending on what flag it flies under will depend on what regulations it has to fallow.

[Etienne]

Ok it would be a dumb barge, onto which would be placed a group of modules fitted out for different purposes to form a complex that would have a POB of 200.

Basically it is a flotel type of thing.

A flottel would be permanently moored; in this case it would be simpler to declare it as a floating dock, and just abide by the local building regulations.

If you want to move the barges, then it's a whole different thing. And are these modules ON the barges, or separate barges that are attached to a main unit? It's a whole different thing.

[swifty]

Ok it would be a dumb barge, onto which would be placed a group of modules fitted out for different purposes to form a complex that would have a POB of 200.

Basically it is a flotel type of thing.

A flottel would be permanently moored; in this case it would be simpler to declare it as a floating dock, and just abide by the local building regulations.

If you want to move the barges, then it's a whole different thing. And are these modules ON the barges, or separate barges that are attached to a main unit? It's a whole different thing.

I was thinking the same thing. If it is truly permanently moored then it would be just like the casino barges in Louisiana. However it sounds like it may be temporary buildings foe conventions or over flow hotels for cities hosting large events. In which case as long as the structure(s) are within the barges design limits and no passengers are on board the there should not be any problems transporting them. Last year the City ox Jacksonville, FL was short needed extra rooms for the Super Bowl so they hired cruse ship to host the over flow. In both cases the structure would be governed more by local building codes rather than by shipping, but you will still need to account for the extra loads seen when transporting.

[swifty]

Oh and assume UK and European Waters in terms of strictness of the regs.

Links would be good. I am searching myself but it is a PITA.

Cheers

In most cases you have to write to the governing agency and request the information I have never worked in Europe so your guess is as good as mine. I think transportation/safety is still governed buy each individual country and not by the EU.

As far as references go try to get your hands on Principles of Naval Architecture: 3 Volumes Set (http://www.sname.org/publications/catsearch.pl?start=0&totfound=0&page=1&queryby=T&code=PNA&btn=Go) it is the Bible when it comes to ship design. However if you don't have a degree in Mechanical Engineering or similar it will be next to impossible to read so try to get your hands on the 1967 edition (http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Naval-Architecture-Comstock/dp/9997462556)it was only one volume and did not contain all the CFD and is a much easier read.

[XabbaRus]

It will be towed from area to area where necessary. North Sea most likely.
Assume flagged under UK. Thanks for the advice but I will bephoning the HSE tomorrow.

[Kapitan]

You would need to get certification from the maritime costgaurd agency and as well as that meet the new SOLAS 2010 regulations, it would have to be inspected before it gets its sea worthy certificate and all that costs alot of money!

il post links later on just remind me!