Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels and repealing Council Directive 82/714/EEC (2006/87/EC) (repealed)

CHAPTER 7 WHEELHOUSE

Article 7.01 General

1. Wheelhouses shall be arranged in such a way that the helmsman may at all times perform his task while the vessel is under way.

2. Under normal operating conditions, sound pressure generated by the vessel and measured at the level of the helmsman's head at the steering position shall not exceed 70 dB(A).

3. Where a wheelhouse has been designed for radar navigation by one person, the helmsman shall be able to accomplish his task while seated and all of the display or monitoring instruments and all of the controls needed for operation of the vessel shall be arranged in such a way that the helmsman may use them comfortably while the vessel is under way without leaving his position or losing sight of the radar screen.

Article 7.02 Unobstructed view

1. There shall be an adequately unobstructed view in all directions from the steering position.

2. The area of obstructed vision for the helmsman ahead of the vessel in an unladen state with half of its supplies but without ballast shall not exceed two vessel lengths or 250 m, whichever is less, to the surface of the water over an arc from abeam on either side through right ahead of the vessel.

Optical and electronic means for reducing the area of obstructed vision may not be taken into account during the inspection.

To further reduce any area of obstructed vision, only suitable electronic devices shall be used.

3. The helmsman's field of unobstructed vision at his normal position shall be at least 240° of the horizon and at least 140° within the forward semicircle.

No window frame, post or superstructure shall lie within the helmsman's usual axis of vision.

Even in the case where a field of unobstructed vision of at least 240° of the horizon is provided, the inspection body may require other measures and in particular the installation of suitable auxiliary optical or electronic devices if no sufficiently unobstructed view is provided towards the rear.

The height of the lower edge of the side windows shall be kept as low as possible and the height of the upper edge of the side and rear windows shall be kept as high as possible.

In determining whether the requirements in this Article for visibility from the wheelhouse are met, the helmsman shall be assumed to have a height of eye of 1 650 mm above the deck at the steering position.

4. The upper edge of the forward facing windows of the wheelhouse shall be high enough to allow a person at the steering position with height of eye of 1 800 mm a clear forward view to at least 10 degrees above the horizontal at eye-level height.

5. There shall in all weathers be suitable means of providing a clear view through the windscreen.

6. The glazing used in wheelhouses shall be made of safety glass and have a light transmission of at least 75 %.

To avoid reflections, the bridge front windows shall be glare-free and inclined from the vertical plane, so as to form an outward angle of not less than 10° and not more than 25°.

Article 7.03 General requirements concerning control, indicating and monitoring equipment

1. Control equipment needed to operate the vessel shall be brought into its operating position easily. That position shall be unambiguously clear.

2. Monitoring instruments shall be easily legible. It shall be possible to adjust their lighting steplessly down to their extinction. Light sources shall be neither intrusive nor impair the legibility of the monitoring instruments.

3. There shall be a system for testing the warning and indicating lights.

4. It shall be possible to clearly establish whether a system is in operation. If its functioning is indicated by means of an indicating light, this shall be green.

5. Any malfunctioning or failure of systems that require monitoring shall be indicated by means of red warning lights.

6. An audible warning shall sound at the same time that a red warning light lights up. Audible warnings may be given by a single, collective signal. The sound pressure level of that signal shall exceed the maximum sound pressure level of the ambient noise at the steering position by at least 3 dB(A).

7. The audible warning shall be capable of being switched off after a malfunction or failure has been acknowledged. Such shutdown shall not prevent the alarm signal from being triggered by other malfunctions. The red warning lights shall only go out when the malfunction has been corrected.

8. The monitoring and indicating devices shall be automatically switched to an alternative power supply if their own power supply fails.

Article 7.04 Specific requirements concerning control, indicating and monitoring equipment of main engines and steering system

1. It shall be possible to control and monitor the main engines and steering systems from the steering position. Main engines fitted with a clutch which can be actuated from the steering position, or driving a controllable pitch propeller which can be controlled from the steering position, need only to be capable of being started up and shut down from the engine room.

2. The control for each main engine shall take the form of a single lever which prescribes an arc within a vertical plane that is approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vessel. Movement of that lever towards the bow of the vessel shall cause forward motion, whereas movement of the lever towards the stern shall cause the vessel to go astern. Clutch engagement and reversal of the direction of motion shall take place about the neutral position of that lever. The lever shall catch in the neutral position.

3. The direction of the propulsion thrust imparted to the vessel and the rotational speed of the propeller or main engines shall be displayed inside wheelhouses that have been designed for radar navigation by one person.

4. The indicating and monitoring devices required by Article 6.07(2), Article 8.03( 2), and Article 8.05 (13), shall be located at the steering position.

5. Vessels with wheelhouses designed for radar navigation by one person shall be steered by means of a lever. It shall be possible to move that lever easily by hand. The position of the lever in relation to the longitudinal axis of the vessel shall correspond precisely to the position of the rudder blades. It shall be possible to release hold of the lever in any given position without that of the rudder blades changing. The neutral position of the lever shall be clearly perceptible.

6. Where the vessel is fitted with bow rudders or special rudders, particularly for going astern, these shall be actuated in wheelhouses designed for radar navigation by one person by special levers which, mutatis mutandis, meet the requirements set out in paragraph 5.

That requirement shall also apply where, in convoys, the steering system fitted to craft other than those powering the convoy is used.

7. Where rate-of-turn regulators are used, it shall be possible for the rate-of-turn control to be released in any given position without altering the speed selected.

The control shall turn through a wide enough arc to guarantee adequately precise positioning. The neutral position shall be clearly perceptible from the other positions. The scale illumination shall be steplessly variable.

8. The remote-control equipment for the entire steering system shall be installed in a permanent manner and be arranged in such a way that the course selected is clearly visible. If the remote control equipment can be disengaged, it shall be equipped with an indicating device displaying the respective operational conditions ‘in service’ or ‘out of service’. The disposition and manipulation of the controls shall be functional.

For systems that are subsidiary to the steering system, such as active bow thrusters, remote-control equipment not permanently installed shall be acceptable provided that such a subsidiary installation can be activated by means of an override at any time within the wheelhouse.

9. In the case of rudder-propeller, water-jet, cycloidal-propeller and bow-thruster systems, equivalent devices shall be acceptable as control, indicating and monitoring devices.

The requirements set out in paragraphs 1 to 8 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, in view of the specific characteristics and arrangements selected for the abovementioned active steering and propulsion units. The position of the indicating device shall clearly show for each installation the direction of the thrust acting on the vessel or the direction of the jet .

Article 7.05 Navigation lights, light signals and sound signals

1. In this Article the term:

(a) ‘navigation lights’ means the masthead, side and stern lights, and the lights visible from all sides, the blue scintillating lights, yellow rapidly scintillating strong lights for high-speed vessels and blue lights for the carriage of dangerous goods;

(b) ‘light signals’ means the lights accompanying the sound signals and assigned to the blue panel.

2. Current indicating lights or other equivalent devices, such as repeater lights, for monitoring the navigation lights shall be installed in the wheelhouse unless that monitoring can be performed direct from the wheelhouse.

3. In wheelhouses designed for radar navigation by one person, repeater lights shall be installed on the control panel in order to monitor the navigation lights and the light signals. Switches of navigation lights shall be included in the repeater lights or be adjacent to these and shall be clearly assigned to them.

The arrangement and colour of the repeater lights for the navigation lights and light signals shall correspond to the actual position and colour of those lights and signals.

The failure of a navigation light or light signal to function shall cause the corresponding repeater light either to go out or to provide a signal in another manner.

4. In wheelhouses designed for radar navigation by one person it shall be possible to activate the sound signals by a foot operated switch. That requirement shall not apply to the ‘do not approach’ signal in accordance with the applicable navigational authority regulations of the Member States.

5. Navigation lights shall meet the requirements set out in Annex IX, Part I.

Article 7.06 Radar installations and rate-of-turn indicators

1. The radar equipment and rate-of-turn indicators shall be of a type that has been approved by the competent authority. The requirements concerning installation and operational testing of radar equipment and rate-of-turn indicators, as laid down in Annex IX, shall be met. Inland ECDIS equipment which can be operated in navigation mode shall be regarded as radar equipment. In addition the requirements of the Inland ECDIS standard shall be met.

The rate-of-turn indicator shall be located ahead of the helmsman and within his field of vision.

2. In wheelhouses designed for radar navigation by one person:

(a) the radar screen shall not be shifted significantly out of the helmsman's axis of view in its normal position;

(b) the radar image shall continue to be perfectly visible, without a mask or screen, whatever the lighting conditions outside the wheelhouse;

(c) the rate-of-turn indicator shall be installed directly above or below the radar image or be incorporated into this.

Article 7.07 Radio telephony systems for vessels with wheelhouses designed for radar navigation by one person

1. Where vessel wheelhouses have been designed for radar navigation by one person, reception from the vessel-vessel networks and that of nautical information shall be via a loudspeaker, and outgoing communications via a fixed microphone. Send/receive shall be selected by means of a push-button.

It shall not be possible to use the microphones of those networks for the public correspondence network.

2. Where vessel wheelhouses designed for radar navigation by one person are equipped with a radio telephone system for the public correspondence network, reception shall be possible from the helmsman's seat.

Article 7.08 Internal communication facilities on board

There shall be internal communication facilities on board vessels with a wheelhouse designed for radar navigation by one person.

It shall be possible to establish communication links from the steering position:

(a)

with the bow of the vessel or convoy;

(b)

with the stern of the vessel or convoy if no direct communication is possible from the steering position;

(c)

with the crew accommodation;

(d)

with the boatmaster's cabin.

Reception at all positions of these internal communication links shall be via loudspeaker, and transmission shall be via a fixed microphone. The link with the bow and stern of the vessel or convoy may be of the radio-telephone type.

Article 7.09 Alarm system

1. There shall be an independent alarm system enabling the accommodation, engine rooms and, where appropriate, the separate pump rooms to be reached.

2. The helmsman shall have within reach an on/off switch controlling the alarm signal; switches which automatically return to the off position when released are not acceptable.

3. The sound pressure level for the alarm signal shall be at least 75 dB(A) within the accommodation area.

In engine rooms and pump rooms the alarm signal shall take the form of a flashing light that is visible on all sides and clearly perceptible at all points.

Article 7.10 Heating and ventilation

Wheelhouses shall be equipped with an effective heating and ventilation system that can be regulated.

Article 7.11 Stern-anchor operating equipment

On board vessels and convoys whose wheelhouse has been designed for radar navigation by one person and exceeding 86 m in length or 22,90 m in breadth it shall be possible for the helmsman to drop the stern anchors from his position.

Article 7.12 Retractable wheelhouses

Retractable wheelhouses shall be fitted with an emergency lowering system.

All lowering operations shall automatically trigger a clearly audible acoustic warning signal. That requirement shall not apply if the risk of injury which may result from the lowering is prevented by appropriate design features.

It shall be possible to leave the wheelhouse safely whatever its position.

Article 7.13 Entry in the Community certificate for vessels with wheelhouses designed for radar navigation by one person

Where a vessel complies with the special provisions for wheelhouses designed for radar navigation by one person as set out in Articles 7.01, 7.04 to 7.08 and 7.11, the following entry shall be made in the Community certificate:

‘The vessel has a wheelhouse designed for radar navigation by one person’.