Fixed Systems - Machinery Spaces — Most Asked Questions
18 questions asked about fixed systems - machinery spaces across the General and Fn 3 papers, heaviest first. 1 of them are must-master.
Learn the system first
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1 Pump room safety
Also asked: “Pump room safieties”
Answer
A tanker pump room is a hazardous space kept safe by heavy mechanical ventilation, gas detection, bilge alarms and trips operable from deck.
- Mechanically ventilated at 20 air changes per hour of pump-room volume, with vent outlets at least 3 m horizontally from ignition sources and accommodation openings.
- An emergency intake about 2 m above the lower grating takes over when the lower intake is unusable; dampers close from the exposed deck and the lower grating level; gratings must not block airflow.
- Fan blades are non-sparking; a fixed gas-detection system watches continuously for hydrocarbon gas with regular calibration, plus deck-level sampling of oxygen content before entry.
- A high-level bilge alarm sounds in cargo control, engine room and bridge, with manually activated trips for pumps and ventilation.
Surveyor follow-up: gas alarm in the pump room — do you send a man down to check the detector?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter II-2 — Fire Protection, Detection & Extinction -
2 Co2 room regulation
Also asked: “Regulation for co2”
Answer
The CO2 room is a locked, ventilated store with two ways to release: local cabinet inside and a remote cabinet outside, worked in parallel.
- Store bottles upright, secured, in a dedicated ventilated room kept locked — entry only for inspection and release.
- Two release cabinets: local in the CO2 room and remote at the fire control station, piped in parallel with non-return valves against backflow.
- Two pilot bottles in the cabinet though one alone can drive master valve and bottle heads — redundancy, not waste.
- Cabinet key lives in a break-glass box nearby; opening the cabinet alarms the protected space and trips its ventilation before gas moves.
Surveyor follow-up: remote cabinet works but local does not — which valve arrangement has failed?
Full theory: CO2 Fixed Fire-Fighting System on Ships -
3 co2 room check
Answer
Check the CO2 room cool, dry, locked and ready: pressure in range, bottles secured, release path clear.
- Room cool and ventilated — bottle pressure climbs with temperature, so heat is the enemy.
- Bottles upright, secured, on brackets with bursting discs intact and manifold gauges reading normal.
- Release cabinet stocked with pilot bottles, key in the break-glass box, alarms and ventilation trips tested.
- Pipework, alarms and leak-off detection proved; log every check with bottle weights on schedule.
Surveyor follow-up: manifold pressure high on a hot day with no leak — ventilate, release or cool first?
Full theory: CO2 Fixed Fire-Fighting System on Ships -
4 If co2 bottle leak is there in co2 room and you entered after 15 days in co2 room. So how will you find co2 bottle leakage after 15 days?
Also asked: “How will you found co2 bottle leakage in co2 room?”
Answer
Find the leaking bottle by manifold pressure first, ventilation and weighing second — never by sniffing the room.
- Manifold leak alarm on pressure switch near 4 bar warns that bottle gas at 52 bar is feeding the manifold.
- Two men ventilate from outside and wait before entering a room that may hold leaked CO2.
- Weigh each bottle hanging free; the light one past 10% loss is the leaker for recharge.
- Pressure gauges, bursting discs and pipework get proved with the room logged before boxing up.
Surveyor follow-up: alarm sounding with all bottles reading full weight — switch, manifold or bottle, and what do you isolate first?
Full theory: CO2 Fixed Fire-Fighting System on Ships -
5 Pump room regulation
Answer
Pump rooms obey ventilation, detection and entry rules: notice posted, air moving, gas watched, entry permitted.
- Posted notice bars entry without permission with ventilation running, lighting proved and gas meter in hand.
- Exhaust ventilation with non-sparking blades, closable dampers and free gratings throughout.
- Fixed hydrocarbon detection with calibration plus deck sampling for oxygen before entry.
- Bilge high-level alarms ringing in control, engine room and bridge with manual trips ready.
Surveyor follow-up: gas meter flat with ventilation stopped — enter on fixed detection alone or wait?
Full theory: CO2 Fixed Fire-Fighting System on Ships -
6 Co2 room requirements
Answer
CO2 rooms stay cool, tall, gas-tight and locked: below 55 degrees, 2.4 m headroom, manifold and weighing gear ready.
- Temperature held low with gas-tight boundaries to neighbours and forced ventilation proved.
- Clear height 2.4 m minimum for manifold work and bottle weighing on the scale beam.
- Bottle banks with 250-bar gauges, blow-through, master and section valves all labelled.
- Room locked with the key in the break-glass box, alarms and trips tested from the cabinet door.
Surveyor follow-up: room 60 degrees with pressure high and no leak — ventilate, cool or release, and what first?
Full theory: CO2 Fixed Fire-Fighting System on Ships -
7 Which detector in cargo space
Answer
Cargo holds earn smoke detection plus water-level alarms: smoke for fire, two-level flooding alarms aft in every hold.
- Fit smoke detection in holds with audible and visual alarms on the bridge and fire panel.
- Bulk carriers add water-ingress alarms aft in each hold — first at 0.5 m, second at 15% depth up to 2 m.
- Accommodation, service spaces and control stations keep their own smoke cover in corridors and escapes.
- Prove by smoke test and flood-float test, not by walkthrough — detectors unwitnessed are detectors unfitted.
Surveyor follow-up: hold smoke head bagged against dust with water alarms live — protected or impaired, and what now?
Full theory: Ship Fire Detectors: Heat, Smoke & Flame Types -
8 Paint locker fire?
Answer
Paint lockers burn stored solvents: fixed smothering inside, steel boundaries outside, openings closed from without.
- Fit fixed gas or equivalent cover sized to the locker volume with external release and closure of vents.
- Keep boundaries steel and insulated to division standard with self-closing doors dogged at sea.
- Cool the boundary from outside while the fixed system floods the locker — entry only after cooling and testing.
- Stow by compatibility with bonding and ventilation live; rags and thinners never sleep with the paint.
Surveyor follow-up: locker release pulled with the vent flap pinned open and the door ajar — smothered or ventilated, and what now?
Full theory: Ship Bulkheads: Watertight, Corrugated and Fire -
9 All tank vents are fitted so that oil cannot overflow onto deck or into machinery spaces which may lead to fires. The vent from the overflow tank is led onto deck and fitted with wire gauze diaphragms
Answer
The overflow tank catches the oil the purifiers push out, and its vent keeps the deck clear of a fire hazard.
- Tank vents are arranged so oil can never overflow onto deck or into a machinery space where it would start a fire.
- The overflow tank vent is led onto the deck and fitted with wire gauze diaphragms, so vapour leaves without carrying oil or flame.
- The overflow tank itself is the purge tank for the purifiers, and its level is checked and drained on the routine.
- So the arrangement is: purifier to overflow tank, vent to deck, and a discharge route that no deck spill can reach.
Surveyor follow-up: overflow tank vent found with the gauze removed and oil on deck — which of the three protections has gone?
Full theory: Ship Pipelines — Seawater, Bilge, Ballast & Fuel Systems -
10 Fire in purifier room full up co2
Answer
A purifier room fire is a fuel fire: isolate and seal the room first, cool from outside, and use the fixed system only if it holds.
- Inform bridge and chief, identify the size and location, and stop the separator from outside the engine room if a remote stop exists.
- Isolate the fuel feed and the heater, and close doors, vents and flaps so the fire is restricted to the room.
- Cool the boundaries from outside with the emergency fire pump while the room stays sealed.
- If the fire cannot be contained, release the fixed system and enter only under permit with breathing sets — never into a sealed room.
Surveyor follow-up: purifier room alight with the fuel valve open and the door already shut — isolate, seal or flood first?
Full theory: Purifier Maintenance: Cleaning, Inspection & Overhaul -
11 How will you enter co2 room with safety precautions?
Answer
Enter a CO₂ room as a chemical space: isolated, ventilated, tested, and with the ventilation proved before the hatch is opened.
- The room is used for no other purpose, and below deck it is within one deck of the open deck with a stair or ladder access.
- Close and mark the isolating valves, ventilate, and confirm with a gas meter before the hatch is lifted.
- Keep the ventilation running with a non-sparking fan, and carry a breathing set at the entrance as a matter of course.
- Do not allow any naked light or smoking in or near the room — the whole space is a carbon dioxide store.
Surveyor follow-up: CO₂ room entered with the fan running but no meter at the hatch — who is the attendant and what proved the air?
Full theory: CO2 Fixed Fire-Fighting System on Ships -
12 How will you go in co2 room after releasing of co2 and what all check will you do in co2 room?
Answer
After a CO₂ release the space kills by lack of oxygen: never enter without breathing apparatus, and ventilate fully before anyone goes in.
- In a CO₂ atmosphere you are in danger of suffocation from oxygen lack — always wear hose-type or oxygen-type apparatus.
- Never use an activated carbon mask; it does not protect against the gas in this space.
- Ventilate completely after the fire is out and enter only when the space is full of fresh air, with the permit and attendant in place.
- Bring no bare flame or cigarette into the burnt space — a smouldering fire can break out again and the gas is still there.
Surveyor follow-up: entering a CO₂-flooded space with a carbon mask because the oxygen bottle was left ashore — enter or withdraw?
Full theory: CO2 Fixed Fire-Fighting System on Ships -
13 Pump room or not ? No pump room on my ship , framo is there
Answer
A chemical tanker with no pump room uses deepwell or submerged pumps in the cargo tanks — the danger is moved, not removed.
- Submersible pumps sit in the tank with individual drives, so there is no pump room, no gland leakage and no vapour hazard space.
- Individual pumps also prevent cross-contamination between cargoes, which is the chemical trade’s first fear.
- Teflon glands and shaft seals and stainless casings are used so the pump survives the cargo.
- The trade is volume and inspection: the pump is fished from the tank to change a seal, where a pump room would have given a deck change.
Surveyor follow-up: chemical tanker with no pump room and a seal change on a pump in the tank — how is that work done?
Full theory: Submerged Hydraulic Cargo Pumps (Framo), Cofferdam Purging & Crude Oil Washing (COW) -
14 Purifier room fire. What are your actions
Answer
Purifier room fires are fuel fires: isolate, seal, cool from outside, and use the fixed system only once the space is shut.
- Sound the alarm, inform bridge and chief engineer, and identify the size, location and whether the purifier must be stopped.
- Isolate the fuel feed and the heater, and stop the separator from outside the engine room if a remote stop is provided.
- Close doors, vents and flaps to restrict the fire and keep the room sealed while the purifier is stopped.
- Cool boundaries from outside and release the fixed system if the fire cannot be contained — enter only with a permit and breathing sets.
Surveyor follow-up: purifier room alight with the fuel valve open and the door already shut — isolate, seal or flood first?
Full theory: Purifier Maintenance: Cleaning, Inspection & Overhaul -
15 Safeties against cargo leakage in compressor room
Answer
Cargo leakage into a compressor room is a gas fire: detection, ventilation, a gas-tight boundary and a plan for the space.
- Fixed hydrocarbon gas detection with regular inspection and calibration, plus an oxygen sampling point at the door.
- Mechanical ventilation independent of the ship’s other systems, with a damper closable from outside.
- A high-level bilge alarm in the compressor room sounding in the cargo control room, engine room and bridge.
- A manually activated trip and isolation arrangement, so the room can be shut down and sealed from outside.
Surveyor follow-up: gas alarm in the compressor room with the fan stopped and the trip bypassed — is that a leak or a casualty?
Full theory: Ship Bulkheads: Watertight, Corrugated and Fire -
16 State with reason the essential requirements for Main Engines in unattended machinery spaces and as a watchkeeper what cheeks you will carry on it out pnor leaving the engine room. (16
Answer
An unattended engine room must be controllable, alarmed and detectable from outside — because the watchkeeper on the bridge is the man in charge.
- Bridge control of propulsion, with control and instrumentation as simple as possible so the bridge can act in an emergency.
- Centralised control in the machinery space, with controls easily reached and comprehensive when engineers are called in.
- Automatic fire detection with numerous well-sited, quick-response detectors, and fire extinguishing ready at the entrance.
- Standing orders: check the alarm panels, the parameters and the dead ship arrangements before leaving the engine room, and record them.
Surveyor follow-up: watchkeeper leaving with a fire detector alarm unacknowledged — who owns that space now, and what is the standing order?
Full theory: Operating the Plant — Preparing, Starting, Watchkeeping and Keeping Warm -
17 Was there a pump room ? If no pump room then what is the name of the room ..... (tank cleaning room
Answer
With no pump room the space is a tank cleaning or tank washing room, where the hoses, the steam heater and the washing gear are worked.
- A chemical tanker may omit the pump room and provide a tank cleaning room instead, with heating and the cleaning gear.
- The tank cleaning room is still a hazardous area, so it keeps gas detection, ventilation and the entry permit discipline.
- The advantage is that the cargo pumps are submerged, so the vapour hazard in the ship’s own spaces is removed.
- Say what the room is called and why it exists — the surveyor is testing whether you know the ship’s arrangement, not her history.
Surveyor follow-up: a room named pump room on a ship with submerged pumps — which is it, and what is in it?
Full theory: Submerged Hydraulic Cargo Pumps (Framo), Cofferdam Purging & Crude Oil Washing (COW) -
18 With reference to the pump room of an oil tanker describe the following with particular emphasis on safety aspects: - (a) Ventilation system . (5) (b) Procedure to be followed for pump room entry. (6) (c) Lighting system
Also asked: “With reference to the pump room of an oil tanker describe the following with particular emphasis on safety aspects: - (a) Ventilation system . (5) (b) Procedure to be followed for pump room entry. (6) (c) Lighting system. (5”
Answer
A pump room is a gas space: 20 air changes an hour, non-sparking fans, a closeable damper, continuous detection and flameproof lighting.
- Cargo pump-rooms are mechanically ventilated at about 20 air changes per hour of the total volume of the room.
- The vent outlet sits at least 3 m horizontally from any ignition source and from the nearest opening to accommodation or machinery spaces.
- An emergency intake about 2 m above the lower grating lets gas out if the main vent fails, and the damper closes from the exposed deck or grating level.
- Lighting is flameproof on two independent circuits, floor gratings do not disturb the airflow, and entry is by permit with gas testing and an EEBD at the hatch.
Surveyor follow-up: pump room with one lighting circuit and the damper seized open — how many of the safety arrangements survive?
Full theory: Centrifugal Cargo Pumps & Stripping Systems — Double-Entry Impellers, Steam Turbines and Vac-Strip
Source: 123 written papers and surveyor oral banks, 24,613 entries, merged into 17,210 topics. Ticks are stored on this device only.