Unmanned machinery space operations on board cargo ship

Safety precautions for Unmanned machinery spaces:

Personnel should never enter or remain in an unmanned machinery space alone,
unless they have received permission from, or been instructed by the engineer
officer in charge at the time. They may only be sent to carry out a specific task
which they may be expected to complete in a comparatively short time.

Before entering the space, at regular intervals whilst in the space and on leaving
the space, they must report by telephone, or other means provided, to the duty
deck officer. Before they enter the space the method of reporting should be clearly
explained. Consideration should be given in appropriate instances to using a
`permit-to-work' .
If it is the engineer officer in charge who enters the machinery space alone, he too
should report to the deck officer.
Notice of safety precautions to be observed by personnel working in unmanned
machinery spaces should be clearly displayed at all entrances to the space. Warning
should be given that in unmanned machinery spaces there is a likelihood of
machinery suddenly starting up.
Unmanned machinery spaces should be adequately illuminated at all times.
When machinery is under bridge control, the bridge should always be advised when
a change in machinery setting is contemplated by the engine room staff, and before
a reversion to engine room control of the machinery.
Unmanned machinery space checks
On any ship certified for unmanned operation, the machinery spaces may be
unattended for a maximum period of 16 consecutive hours. No vessel is to operate
with the machinery spaces unmanned in the following circumstances:
During preparation for departure .
During manoeuvring/standby operation.
At sea or at anchor when the Master or the Chief Engineer requires the Engine
Room to be manned due to adverse weather, traffic etc.
When the cargo handling plant places a high and variable load on the electrical or
steam generating plant.
When port regulations prohibit any unmanned engine room.
With any fire, major alarm, or safety system inoperative, including any fire
detection system zones isolated.
If any propulsion equipment back up provision is inoperative.
With any major control or communication system inoperative.
If the bridge console is inoperative.

Before the Chief Engineers specific instructions for operating in the unmanned
condition have been complied with.
Before Going UMS
Before going UMS, the Duty Engineer must ensure that all day service tanks for fuel,
cylinder oil and header tanks for cooling water, lubricating oil, etc are full. An
inspection of all active and operational machinery and systems in all the machinery
spaces, particularly for fuel and lubricating oil leakage, is to be carried out.
That the main engine is on bridge Control
Check that all bilges and seawalls are empty.
Test Oil Mist Detector alarm on M.E , test bilge wells High Levels Alarms , test
Boiler High/Low/Cut out alarms where applicable
Check that bilge pump is in auto position.
Check that Emergency DG is in stand-by position.
Check that Stand-by DG is on auto-start.
Check that steering gear motors are in stand-by position.
Check that all stand-by pumps are on auto-start.
Check that OWS overboard valve is secured (OWS stopped when E/R unmanned
and if not automatic discharge).
Check that all fire loops are activated.
Check whether all watertight and weather doors/openings are closed.
Check that the Purifier Room and Steering Gear door is closed
Check cabin / public rooms alarms prior to the engine room being unmanned.
Inform bridge and confirm UMS before leaving E/R
Check that all flammable liquids are in sealed canisters.
Check that all oil spills etc have been cleaned up.
Check that all waste, rags and other cleaning materials are stowed away.
Check that all Engine Room gear, spare parts etc are properly secured.
Check that all alarms are active.
Check that all fire detection sensors are active.
Check that all fire doors are closed.
Test the Deadman alarm and Engineers Call Alarms, ensuring they are
sounding in public rooms, Bridge, Cargo Offices and appropriate cabins.
A Critical Operations Checklist, is to be developed, maintained and used for
ensuring all necessary checks are made prior to going unmanned. Once the
checklist has been completed, the engine room alarms should be set to UMS
Mode and the Bridge notified of the engine room status and engineer on duty. An
entry should be made in the engine room log book.
Entering / Leaving the Engine Room During Unmanned Period
The Duty Engineer Officer must report to the Bridge when he is entering and leaving
the Machinery Spaces.

Whenever the duty engineer is required to enter the machinery spaces during UMS
periods, including attendance for evening rounds and to respond to alarms, the
Deadman alarm system is to be operated, where fitted. On vessels without a
Deadman alarm system, the duty engineer must contact the bridge every 15
minutes to verify his safety.
In the case of an alarm, the Duty Engineer Officer must verify the cause of the
alarm, and take necessary measures to rectify the cause. If necessary he is to call
another Engineer Officer.
In the case of fire, flooding, serious machinery or electrical generation malfunction
or similar threat to safety, the Duty Engineer Officer must call the Bridge and the
Chief Engineer.
Two full log entries of the engine room machinery parameters are to be made during
the 8 hr manned period, and one log entry for the unmanned period.
The Chief Engineer is to issue standing instructions specific to the vessel detailing
the operation of the machinery during the unmanned period.
Means are to be adopted to ensure that entry into unmanned machinery spaces
outside normal working hours is restricted to the Duty Engineer and any other
persons as authorised by the Chief Engineer. Access doors are to carry appropriately
worded "Entry Prohibited" signs indicating the times during which the special
restrictions are applicable.
On any ship certified for unmanned operation, the machinery spaces may be
unattended for a maximum period of 16 consecutive hours. No vessel is to operate
with the machinery spaces unmanned in the following circumstances:
During preparation for departure see section 4 of this chapter.
During manoeuvring/standby operation.
At sea or at anchor when the Master or the Chief Engineer requires the Engine
Room to be manned due to adverse weather, traffic etc.
When the cargo handling plant places a high and variable load on the electrical or
steam generating plant.
When port regulations prohibit any unmanned engine room.
With any fire, major alarm, or safety system inoperative, including any fire
detection system zones isolated.
If any propulsion equipment back up provision is inoperative.
With any major control or communication system inoperative.
If the bridge console is inoperative.
Before the Chief Engineers specific instructions for operating in the unmanned
condition have been complied with.

Essential requirements for any unattended machinery space (UMS) Ship to able to
sail at sea are enumerated in the SOLAS 1974 Chapter II-1, regulations 46 to
regulation 53. The main points discussed in this chapter are discussed in this article.

A)

Arrangement should be provided on UMS ship to detect and give alarm in case of fire.

a)

In the boiler air supply casing and uptake.

b)

In scavenge space of propulsion machinery.

B)
In engines of power 2250 Kw and above or cylinders having bore more than 300mm
should be provided with oil mist detector for crankcase or bearing temperature monitor or either
of two.
Protection against Flooding
Bilge well in UMS ship should be located and provided in such a manner that the accumulation
of liquid is detected at normal angle of heel and trim and should also have enough space to
accommodate the drainage of liquid during unattended period.
In case of automatic starting of bilge pump, the alarm should be provided to indicate that the
flow of liquid pumped is more than the capacity of the pump.
Control of Propulsion Machinery from Navigation Bridge
The ship should be able to be controlled from bridge under all sailing conditions. The bridge
should be able to control the speed, direction of thrust, and should be able to change the pitch in
case of controllable pitch propeller.
Emergency stop should be provided on navigating bridge, independent of bridge control system.
The remote operation of the propulsion should be possible from one location at a time; at such
connection interconnected control position are permitted.
The number of consecutive automatic attempt which fails to start the propulsion machinery shall
be limited to safeguard sufficient starting air pressure.
Centralized control & instruments are required in Machinery Space
Centralized control system should be there so that engineers may be called to the machinery
space during emergencies from wherever they are.

Automatic Fire Detection

Alarms and detection should operate very rapidly and effectively. It should be placed at
numerous well sited places for quick response of the detectors.
Fire Extinguishing System
There should be arrangement for fire extinguishing system other than the conventional hand
extinguishers which can be operated remotely from machinery space. The station must give
control of emergency fire pumps, generators, valves, extinguishing media etc.
Alarm System
A comprehensive alarm system must be provided for control & accomodation areas.
Automatic Start of Emergency Generator
Arrangement for starting of emergency generator and automatic connection to bus bar must be
provided in case of blackout condition. Apart from that following points are also to be noted.
1)
Local hand control of essential machineries like steering, emergency generator starting,
emergency start for main engine etc.
2)

Adequate settling tank storage capacity.

3)

Regular testing & maintainence of machinery alarms & instruments.

CONTROL OF MACHINERY
A. Control and Monitoring
A 100 Control and monitoring
101
Main and auxiliary machinery essen
tial for the propulsion, control an
d safety of the ship shall be
provided with effective mean
s for its operation and control. All control systems essential for the propulsion,
control and safety of the ship shall be independent or designed such that failure of one
system does not degrade
the performance of another system.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.1 and 31.5.1)
Guidance note:
Compliance with these rules and Ch.9 is regarded as

compliance with the above

mentioned requirements.
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102
It shall be possible for all machinery, essential for th
e safe operation of the ship, to be controlled from a
local position, even in the case of
failure in any part of the auto
matic or remote control systems.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/49.4)
Guidance note:
Local position for electrical motors driving pumps, the local position is by the starter.
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103
At least two independent means shall be provided for communicating orders
from the navigating bridge
to the position in the machinery space or in the cont
rol room from which the speed and direction of thrust of
the propellers are normally controlle
d: one of these shall be an engine-room telegraph which provides visual
indication of the orders and responses both in the mach
inery spaces and on the navigating bridge. Appropriate
means of communication sh
all be provided from the navigating bridge and the engine-room to any other
position from which the speed or direction of thrust of the propellers may be
controlled.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/37)
A 200 Remote control of machinery, general requirements
201
The requirements in this chapter
are additional to those given in Ch
.9 and are applicable when remote
control is installed.
202
The engine room or the engine control room, if
provided, is normally th
e main command location but
another permanently attended lo
cation may be accepted as a more suitable main command location.
It shall be possible at any time to take contro
l of main functions locally at the machinery.
203

In general, automatic starting, op

erational and control systems shall include provisions for manually
overriding the automatic contro
ls. Failure of any part of such system
s shall not prevent the use of the manual
override.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.4)
204
Indicators shall be fitted on the navigation bri
dge, the main machinery co
ntrol room and at the
manoeuvring platform, for:
propeller speed and direction of rotation in
the case of fixed pitch propellers; and
propeller speed and pitch position in th
e case of controllable pitch propellers.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.2.8 and 31.5.6)
205
Remote starting of the propulsion machinery shall be
automatically inhibited
if conditions exist which
may hazard the machinery, e.g. turning gear engaged.
206
The design of the remote control sy
stem shall be such that
in case of its failure an alarm will be given.
Unless the Administration considers it im
practicable the pre-set speed and direction of thrust of the propeller
shall be maintained until local
control is in operation.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.2.7)
A 300 Bridge control of machinery
301
Overload shall be indicated on the bridge if
automatic load limitatio
n is not arranged for.
302
An alarm shall be initiated on
the bridge and in the engine room at starting failure.
Amended August 2011, see page 3
Rules for Ships, July 2011
Pt.4 Ch.1 Sec.4 Page 15

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ET

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V
ERITAS

AS

A 400 Bridge control of propulsion machinery

401
The speed, direction of thrust and,
if applicable, the pitch of the prope
ller shall be fully controllable from
the navigating bridge under all sailing conditions, including manoeuvring.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.2.1)
402
The remote control shall be perform
ed, for each independent propeller, by a control device so designed
and constructed that its operation does not require part
icular attention to the operational details of the
machinery. Where multiple propellers
are designed to operate
simultaneously, they may be controlled by one
control device.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.2.2)
Guidance note:
For ships less than 500 gross tonnage
, two handle control may be accepted a
nd some of the normally programmed
operations may instead be carried out manually.
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403
The main propulsion machinery shall be provided w
ith an emergency stopping device on the navigating
bridge which shall be independent of the navigating bridge control system.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.2.3)
Guidance note:
If means are provided to stop the propulsion without stoppin
g the main engine(s) (e.g. cl
utch arrangement) then this
will be accepted.
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404
Propulsion machinery orders from the navigation bridge

shall be indicated in th
e main machinery control
room and at the manoeuvring platform.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.2.4)
405
Remote control of the propulsion
machinery shall be possible only
from one location at a time, at such
locations interconnected
control positions are permitted. At each lo
cation there shall be an indicator showing
which location is in control of the pr
opulsion machinery. The transfer of
control between the navigating bridge
and machinery spaces shall be possible only in the main
machinery space or the main machinery control room.
This system shall include means to
prevent the propelling thru
st from altering significantly when transferring
control from one location to another.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.2.5)
Guidance note:
The space where propulsion thrusters ar
e located may in this context be regarded as the machinery space.
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406
It shall be possible to control the propulsion machinery locally, even in
the case of failure in any part of
the remote control system. It shall also be possible
to control the auxiliary m
achinery, essential for the
propulsion and safety of the ship,
at or near the machinery concerned.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.2.6)
407
An alarm shall be provided on the navigating bridge
and in the machinery space
to indicate low starting
air pressure which shall be set at a level to permit furthe
r main engine starting operations. If the remote control
system of the propulsion machinery
is designed for automatic starting,

the number of au
tomatic consecutive
attempts which fail to produce a start shall be limited
in order to safeguard suffici
ent starting air pressure for
starting locally.
(SOLAS Ch. II-1/31.2.9)
408
Automation systems shall be designed in a manner wh
ich ensures that threshol
d warning of impending
or imminent slowdown or shutdown of the propulsion system is given to the officer in
charge of the
navigational watch in time to assess navigational circumst
ances in an emergency. In particular, the systems
shall control, monitor, report, alert an
d take safety action to slow down or stop propulsion while providing the
officer in charge of the navigational watch an opportun
ity to manually intervene,
except for those cases where
manual intervention will result in total failure of the
engine and/or propulsion eq
uipment within a short time,
for example in the case of overspeed.
Guidance note:
The above is regarded to be fulfilled when:
1) All parameters initiating slowdown and shutdown shall initiate an alarm at a set-point
different from the
slowdown/shutdown set-point. These alarms shall be indi
vidually or in groups indicated on the navigating bridge
whenever the propulsion
machinery is controlled from this position.
Exempted from the requirement to give a
pre-warning are the following parameters:
- overspeed on rotating machinery
- crankcase explosive condition using oil mist detection on diesel engines
- short-circuit in elect
rical propulsion plants.
2) An override facility to manually intervene on all slow
downs and shutdowns shall be available for all parameters
except those which will result in total failure of the e
ngine and/or propulsion equipment within a short time.
Note: examples of such parameters:

- lubricating oil pressure for rotating machinery

- overspeed for rotating machinery for fluid film bearings
- crankcase explosive condition on diesel engines
- short-circuit conditions in electrical installation
- high vibration for gas turbines.

What all safety trips are present in Marine Auxiliary Engine ?

The various trips and alarms are mentioned as follows
Alternator bearing low oil level alarm & trip
Alternator bearing high temperature lube oil alarm &trip
Low sump oil level alarm and trip
Lube low oil pressure alarm and trip
Reverse current trip
Over speed trip
Over load trip
High and low frequency trip
Jacket cooling water low-pressure alarm