SHIPREPAIR and conversion technology - 3rd quarter 2004
Editorial
- dedicated website
Water Ingress Alarm Developments
There is IMO/SOLAS
regulation requiring all bulk carriers to be fitted with a safety alarm
system warning of a major hazard of water entering the holds. This was a
‘hot topic’ at the recent Posidonia show, as operators have only a
limited time to comply and there are reports of class surveyors starting
to prevent ships leaving port until the system is fitted.
Uk-based PSM has
prepared a system, BulkSafe, which, has now been tested and certified by
Lloyd’s Register (LR) and other major classification societies, as
meeting SOLAS Res.X11/12. Only a single sensor is required in each hold
to provide a compliant pre-alarm and main alarm warning, thus saving
cost on hardware and installation.
One of the unique
features of the PSM BulkSafe is the ability to check the entire system
from sensors to alarm unit at a deck location with a simple test handle.
PSM’s design team believes that simple devices such as float-operated
switches and conductivity probes do not provide a continuous self-check.
Physically checking a float by immersion before cargo loading is no
guarantee, the company suggests, as it will not subsequently stick in a
crucial real alarm condition.
The PSM sensors use
‘live signal’ continuous monitoring, thus removing passive
unreliability from these primary safety systems. Furthermore, the
company maintains that the sensors are not only fully checkable, even
with a dully loaded cargo, they are also 100% serviceable and removable
in this condition. All of this comes in addition to the auto self-check
of the system.
