Can your ship carry logs, and what precautions apply to a timber deck cargo?
Short answer
| Precaution | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Stability (Timber Code chapter 2) | water absorption and ice accretion allowed for; adequate GM and GZ; free surface minimised |
| Stowage (chapter 3, ICLL regulation 44) | compact and level; openings battened; pipes and safety equipment clear; uprights |
| Securing (chapter 4, CSS Code, SOLAS VI/5) | lashings per the Cargo Securing Manual, tensioners, quick release, re-tightened on passage |
| Visibility and access | SOLAS V bridge visibility; a safe walkway or lifeline |
| Voyage | weather watched, trapped water cleared, speed and course adjusted in heavy weather |
- Authority: timber load lines (ICLL chapter IV, regulations 41 to 45) allow timber deck cargo to a reduced timber freeboard (regulation 45); regulation 43 construction, 44 stowage.
- Codes: the 2011 Timber Deck Cargoes Code (A.1048(27)): chapter 2 stability, 3 stowage, 4 securing; SOLAS VI/5 and the Cargo Securing Manual; the CSS Code (A.714(17)).
- Stability: deck timber raises KG; logs absorb water and ice accretes, so allow for both; adequate GM and GZ, neither tender nor too stiff, free surface minimised.
- Stowage and securing: compact, solid, level; openings battened, pipes and safety equipment clear; uprights where required; lashings of adequate strength with tensioners and quick release, re-tightened as the cargo settles.
- Visibility, access, voyage: bridge visibility within SOLAS V; a safe walkway or lifeline; weather and stability watched, trapped water cleared.
- As Chief Engineer: watertight integrity of covered openings, bilge pumping of trapped water, safe access and the stability inputs are mine.
Full answer
The full answer explains each point step by step, with the regulations and figures behind it and the discussion from other candidates. It is in the MEO Class I section of the Marine One forum, open to members enrolled for the MEO Class I exam.