ABS has released regulatory update update and guidance on the latest developments regarding the arrangements for the emergency escape trunk from Category A machinery spaces.
SOLAS regulations II-2/13.4.1 and 13.4.2 specify the requirements for the means of escape from machinery spaces on passenger and cargo ships, respectively. Those regulations require one of the two means of escape from machinery spaces to be located inside a protected enclosure from the “lower part of the space”.
The term “lower part” refers to the protected enclosure but is not explicitly defined in the SOLAS regulations. In this context, IACS proposed a unified interpretation, which was approved by the IMO Maritime Safety Committee during its 95th session in June 2015. This unified interpretation was released as MSC.1/Circ.1511 and applies to vessels with a keel laying date on or after January 1, 2016. The document specifies the “lower part” as the “lowest deck level, platform, or passageway within the space.”
To be noted that the IACS unified interpretations, SC 277 for cargo ships and SC 276 for passenger ships,
provide the same clarification for vessels contracted for construction on or after February 1, 2016. Specifically, they state that the term “lower part of the space it serves” should be understood as referring to “the lowest deck level, platform, or passageway within that space.”
In January 2025, the IMO Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction (SDC) held its 11th session,
during which IACS submitted a proposal regarding regulations SOLAS II-2/13.4.1 and 13.4.2. This proposal
aimed to clarify the term “lower part” in relation to escape routes from areas below the bulkhead deck by
revising MSC.1/Circ.1511 to define “lower part” as the lowest deck level or any working platform up to 2.3
meters above it.