Fire on Board the Liberian Passenger Ship Ecstasy, Miami, Florida ...

Factual Information 29 Marine Accident Reportand damage stability, and general guidance on ship construction and essential shipboardengineering systems. A classification society provides detailed rules pertaining to shipstructural design and essential shipboard engineering systems.Classification. The Ecstasy was built and maintained under LR rules and held thehighest vessel classification for construction (+100 A1). LR is a United Kingdomnongovernmental, nonprofit corporation founded in 1760 for the primary purpose ofevaluating the structural and mechanical fitness of ships and other marine structures fortheir intended purpose. LR’s classification of a vessel involves establishing andadministering its standards, known as Rules and Regulations (rules), for the design,construction, and operational maintenance of marine vessels and structures. The Ecstasywas designed under 1987 LR rules.Part 6, Chapter 2-1, “Electrical Installations–Equipment and Systems Design,” ofthe 1987 LR rules states that the wiring for “essential services,” that is, those servicesnecessary for the propulsion and safety of the ship, should be duplicated. The followingexcerpts from the 1987 LR rules further define the electrical system design:Essential services that are duplicated are to be served by individual circuitsseparated throughout their length as widely as is practicable and without the use ofcommon feeders, protective devices or control circuits.Where a duplicate supply is required, the two cables are to follow different routeswhich are to be as far apart as possible.Cables for essential and emergency services are to be arranged, so far as ispracticable, to avoid galleys, machinery spaces, and other enclosed spaces of highfire risk except as necessary for the service being supplied.The general design guidance section states, “The distribution system is to be suchthat essential services, which are duplicated, are supplied from separate sections of theswitchboard.” 26As part of this investigation, the Safety Board wrote LR asking the classificationsociety to provide its interpretation of the rules cited above and the extent of theirapplicability to the electrical arrangement for the auxiliary voltage supply to thepropulsion system’s high-speed breakers. In its letter, the Safety Board states:Recognizing that there may be some differences between the approved asdesigned drawings and the as built drawings, please comment on the applicabilityof the rules to both sets of drawings, if the differences between them aresignificant. If the electrical arrangement for the auxiliary voltage to the highspeedbreakers complied with these rules, please discuss how the rules areactually intended to be applied. And finally, please comment on any Lloyd’sRegister rule changes (if any) that have been made to the 1987 rules that may26Lloyd’s Register of Shipping Rules and Regulations for the Classification of Ships, Part 6, Control,Electrical, Refrigeration and <strong>Fire</strong>, January 1987, Chapter 2-1 Electrical Installations – Equipment andSystems Design, Section 2 System design – General, Subsection 2.1.6 Systems of supply and distribution.