Excepted vessels, as defined in § 136.110 of this subchapter, need not comply with the provisions of §§ 142.315 through 142.330.

(a) A towing vessel that is:

(1) Certificated for rivers, lakes, bays, and sounds, less than 3 nautical miles from shore on the Great Lakes; or

(2) Certificated for limited coastwise, coastwise, oceans or waters beyond 3 nautical miles from shore on the Great Lakes, whose contract for construction was executed prior to August 27, 2003; or

(3) Pushing a barge ahead or hauling a barge alongside, when the barge's coastwise, limited coastwise, or Great Lakes route is restricted, as indicated on its COI, so that the barge may operate “in fair weather only, within 12 miles of shore” or with words to that effect, must be equipped with either:

(i) An approved 160-B semi-portable fire-extinguishing system to protect the engine room; or

(ii) A fixed fire-extinguishing system installed to protect the engine room.

(b) A towing vessel that is certificated for limited coastwise, coastwise, oceans, or beyond 3 nautical miles from shore on the Great Lakes whose contract for construction was executed on or after August 27, 2003, except for those specified in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, must be equipped with both:

(1) An approved 160-B semi-portable fire-extinguishing system to protect the engine room; and

(2) A fixed fire-extinguishing system installed to protect the engine room.

Each towing vessel must have either a self-priming, power-driven, fixed fire pump, a fire main, and hoses and nozzles in accordance with paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section; or a portable pump, and hoses and nozzles, in accordance with paragraphs (e) and (f) of this section.

(a) A fixed fire pump must be capable of:

(1) Delivering water simultaneously from the two highest hydrants, or from both branches of the fitting if the highest hydrant has a Siamese fitting, at a pitot-tube pressure of at least 344 kilopascals (kPa) (50 pounds per square inch (psi)), and a flow rate of at least 300 liters per minute (lpm) (80 gallons per minute (gpm)); and

(2) Being energized remotely from a safe place outside the engine room and at the pump.

(b) All suction valves necessary for the operation of the fire main must be kept in the open position or capable of operation from the same place where the remote fire pump control is located.

(c) The fire main must have a sufficient number of fire hydrants with attached hose to allow a stream of water to reach any part of the machinery space using a single length of fire hose.

(d) The hose must be a lined commercial fire hose 15 meters (50 feet) in length, at least 40 millimeters (1.5 inches) in diameter, and fitted with a nozzle made of corrosion-resistant material capable of providing a solid stream and a spray pattern.

(e) The portable fire pump must be self-priming and power-driven, with:

(1) A minimum capacity of at least 300 LPM (80 gpm) at a discharge gauge pressure of not less than 414 kPa (60 psi), measured at the pump discharge;

(2) A sufficient amount of lined commercial fire hose 15 meters (50 feet) in length, at least 40 mm (1.5 inches) in diameter and immediately available to attach to it so that a stream of water will reach any part of the vessel; and

(3) A nozzle made of corrosion-resistant material capable of providing a solid stream and a spray pattern.

(f) The pump must be stowed with its hose and nozzle outside of the machinery space.

(a) Fire-detection systems. Except as provided in paragraph (a)(8) of this section, each towing vessel must have a fire-detection system installed to detect engine room fires. The owner or managing operator must ensure the following:

(1) Each detector, control panel, remote indicator panel, and fire alarm are approved by the Commandant under approval series 161.002 or listed by a NRTL as set forth in 29 CFR 1910.7;

(2) The system is installed, tested, and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's design manual;

(3) The system is arranged and installed so a fire in the engine room automatically sets off alarms on a fire detection control panel at the operating station. On vessels with more than one operating station, only one of them must be outfitted with a fire detection control panel. Any other operating station must be outfitted with either a fire detection control panel or a remote indicator panel;

(4) The control panel includes:

(i) A power available light;

(ii) An audible to notify crew of a fire;

(iii) Visual alarm alarms to identify the zone or zones of origin of the fire;

(iv) A means to silence the audible alarm while maintaining indication by the visual alarms;

(v) A circuit-fault detector test-switch, or internal supervision of circuit integrity; and

(vi) Labels for all switches and indicator lights, identifying their functions.

(5) The system draws power from two sources. Switchover from the primary source to the secondary source may be either manual or automatic;

(6) The system serves no other purpose, unless it is an engine room monitoring system complying with paragraph (a)(8) of this section; and

(7) The design of the system and its installation on the towing vessel is certified and inspected by a registered professional engineer with experience in fire-detection system design, by a technician with qualifications as a National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET) level IV fire alarm engineering technician, or by an authorized classification society with equivalent experience, to comply with paragraphs (a)(1) through (6) of this section.

(8) A towing vessel whose construction was contracted for prior to January 18, 2000, may use an existing engine room monitoring system (with fire-detection capability) instead of a fire-detection system, if the monitoring system is operable and complies with paragraphs (a)(2) through (7) of this section, and uses detectors listed by an NRTL.

(b) Smoke detection in berthing spaces. Each towing vessel must be equipped with a means to detect smoke in the berthing spaces and lounges that alerts individuals in those spaces. This may be accomplished by an installed detection system, or by using individual battery-operated detectors meeting UL 217 (incorporated by reference, see § 136.112 of this subchapter). Detection systems or individual detectors must be kept operational at all times when the crew is onboard the towing vessel.

(c) Heat-detection system in galley. Each new towing vessel equipped with a galley must have a heat-detection system with one or more restorable heat-sensing detectors to detect fires in the galley. The system must be arranged to sound an audible alarm at each operating station. This may be a separate zone in the detection system required by paragraph (a) of this section, or a separate detection system complying with paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section.