[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 49, Volume 2]

[Revised as of October 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 49CFR176.39]



[Page 726]

 

                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION

 

   CHAPTER I--PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, 

                      DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

 

PART 176_CARRIAGE BY VESSEL--Table of Contents

 

                Subpart B_General Operating Requirements

 

Sec. 176.39  Inspection of cargo.



    (a) Manned vessels. The carrier, its agents, and any person 

designated for this purpose by the carrier or agents shall cause an 

inspection of each hold or compartment containing hazardous materials to 

be made after stowage is complete, and at least once every 24 hours 

thereafter, weather permitting, in order to ensure that the cargo is in 

a safe condition and that no damage caused by shifting, spontaneous 

heating, leaking, sifting, wetting, or other cause has been sustained by 

the vessel or its cargo since loading and stowage. However, freight 

containers or individual barges need not be opened. A vessel's holds 

equipped with smoke or fire detecting systems having an automatic 

monitoring capability need not be inspected except after stowage is 

complete and after periods of heavy weather. The carrier, its agents, 

and any person designated for this purpose by the carrier or agents 

shall cause an entry to be made in the vessel's deck log book for each 

inspection of the stowage of hazardous materials performed.

    (b) Unmanned and magazine vessels. An inspection of the cargo must 

be made after stowage has been completed to ensure that stowage has been 

accomplished properly and that there are no visible signs of damage to 

any packages or evidence of heating, leaking, or sifting. This 

inspection must be made by the individual who is responsible to the 

carrier and who is in charge of loading and stowing the cargo on the 

unmanned vessels or the individual in charge in the case of a magazine 

vessel.

    (c) The carrier, its agents, and any person designated for this 

purpose by the carrier or agents of each ocean-going vessel carrying 

hazardous material shall, immediately prior to entering a port in the 

United States, cause an inspection of that cargo to be made.

    (d) When inspecting a cargo of hazardous materials capable of 

evolving flammable vapors, any artificial means of illumination must be 

of an explosion-proof type.



[Amdt. 176-1, 41 FR 16110, Apr. 15, 1976, as amended by Amdt. 176-8, 44 

FR 23228, Apr. 19, 1979; Amdt. 176-9, 44 FR 49458, Aug. 23, 1979]