Regulations governing the use and navigation of the waters of Hampton Roads and the harbors of Norfolk and Newport News, Va., and the handling of explosives therein by vessels other than common carriers carrying explosives

Under authority of section 7 of the River and Harbor Act approved August 8, 1917, the following regulations are prescribed to govern the use and navigation of the waters of Hampton Roads and the harbors of Norfolk and Newport News, Va., by vessels, other than common carriers, carrying explosives.

1. The officer of the Coast Guard designated “Captain of the Port" shall have immediate supervision of the enforcement of these regulations.

2. Vessels carrying explosives shall be at all times in charge of competent persons and must display by day a red flag of at least 16 square feet at the mast head, or at least 10 feet above the upper deck, if the vessel has no mast; at night a red light will be displayed in the same positions specified for the red flag. For use in emergencies each barge must be provided with a suitable anchor, ground tackle, and equipment, to be approved by the captain of the port, with an adequate supply of fire extinguishers, and fire pails filled with water, and a suitable fog horn and bell.

3. No smoking will be permitted on or near any vessel, barge or scow, carrying explosives, and no person under the influence of liquor will be allowed on board, nor to approach such vessels. Every person having business on board vessels which are being loaded with explosives, other than members of the crew, must have a pass from the captain of the port in such form as the captain of the port shall determine.

4. Vessels carrying explosives shall not carry inflammable liquids, imflammable solids, oxidizing materials, mineral acids, as defined in Interstate Commerce Commission regulations for the transportation of explosives, or articles likely to ignite spontaneously, or to give off inflammable gases, unless the explosives are stored in separate rooms or are otherwise so separated as to effectively prevent danger to the explosive from any of these articles, or from the vapor thereof. Where blasting caps, detonating fuses, and fulminate of mercury in bulk are loaded on the vessel with high explosives, they must be in a different compartment, the distance in a straight line from the compartment containing them to the explosives to be not less than 25 feet.

5. No unnecessary fires shall be permitted on vessels carrying explosives, and those fires which are deemed necessary must be properly safeguarded and must be left in constant charge of some one individual of the crew during the entire period that they are burning. Cabins on barges or lighters carrying explosives of any, or all, descriptions, in which oil lights or stoves are used must be protected by covering. The wooden walls, partitions, floors, and ceilings with two thicknesses of onequarter inch asbestos board placed with joints broken and covered with no. 26 gage metal. This protection must also be applied to doors; and the doors from the cabin into other parts of the boat must be provided with substantial springs making them self-closing. The stoves must be at least 18 inches from all partitions, and a sheet-metal shield 51⁄2 feet in height, securely fastened to the floor and the wall, must be placed midway between the walls and the stove. The stove must be at least 6 inches from the floor of the cabin, supported either on legs permanently and securely fastened to the stove and the floor, or on 6 inches of hollow tile securely fastened in place. The hole in the roof of the cabin where the stovepipe passes through shall be 18 inches larger in circumference than the

stovepipe, and a substantial metal plate shall be placed in the opening surrounding the the pipe to hold it in place. The stovepipe shall also be tied into the walls so that it will not shift.

The smokestack must be provided with substantial screens of fine mesh or other satisfactory spark arrester. All oil lamps must be held in marine brackets. Safety matches of wooden-stick type rather than the paper type must be used exclusively and kept in proper receptacles. Oils and lamps must be kept on deck in a box lined with metal in such position that it can be readily thrown overboard. No artificial light shall be permitted in the holds or compartments of any vessel that contains explosives except electric flashlights or electric lanterns or an approved electric lighting of the vessel. Crews must not have or carry matches, firearms, or cartridges on their persons. Electric flashlights must be provided for the attendants.

6. No explosives will be allowed to be placed aboard a vessel until the rest of the cargo has been placed aboard and the vessel trimmed. All work of construction of floors, partitions, and other conditioning of the vessel, and the removal of any other combustibles from that part of the hold in which the explosives are to be stored, shall be completed before loading of the explosives is commenced. All rubbish, shovelings, old oil, paint cans, oil rags, rope ends, and other litter must be kept cleared out of the holds. Such lumber as is allowed to remain in the holds for use as firewood must be securely piled. Floors must be kept broom clean. All decks, gangways, and holds over which explosives must be passed in loading must be freed from all loose metal or tools and carefully swept before loading is commenced, and after loading has ceased.

7. All explosives must be handled carefully. No metal tools shall be used in loading, unloading, or handling explosives. Men engaged in loading, unloading or handling explosives must not have or carry on their persons metal tools or bale hooks, matches, firearms, or cartridges and they must not wear boots or shoes shod or strengthened with iron nails or any metal unless such boots or shoes are covered with leather, felt, or some other such material. Packages of explosives must not be thrown, dropped, rolled, dragged, or slid over each other or over the decks. Dynamite boxes must be stowed topside up. Powder kegs should be loaded with seams up.

8. The term "high explosives in bulk" shall be construed to mean high explosives packed in boxes, barrels or kegs and not loaded in ammunition or shells. The standard definition of the term "high explosives" will be that contained in paragraph 1503 of the regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission for the transportation of explosives by rail, viz: "High explosives are all explosives more powerful than ordinary black powder, except smokeless powders and fulminates. Their distinguishing characteristic is their susceptibility to detonation by a blasting cap. Examples of high explosives are dynamite, picric acid, picrates, chlorate powders, nitrate of ammonia powders, dry trinitrotoluol, dry nitrocellulose (guncotton), dry tetranitroaniline, and fireworks that can be exploded en masse." Unless they are loaded in the same vessel with articles enumerated in the rule quoted above, picric acid 10 percent wet, and trinitrotoluol 10 percent wet, and nitrocellulose (guncotton) 20 percent wet, will not be classified as high explosives. The term "high explosives in bulk" does not include such articles as benzol, toluol, smokeless powder, black powder, small-arms ammunition, ammunition for cannon with explosive projectiles, explosive projectiles or torpedoes, percussion fuses, time fuses, combination fuses, tracer fuses, cordeau detonant, primers for cannon and small arms, blasting caps, detonating fuses, and fulminate of mercury in bulk. Blasting caps, detonating fuses, and fulminate of mercury in bulk will be considered as constituting a distinct class by themselves, and must be stowed and handled with special care.

9. In transferring high explosives in bulk, blasting caps, detonating fuses, and fulminate of mercury from one vessel to another they must be handled by hand or regulation chute and mattress. If difference in elevation between vessels or condition of weather renders it impossible to transfer or load by hand or chute, mechanical hoists and a special crate or basket may be used. Explosives transferred in this manner must not be handled roughly. They must be hoisted and lowered carefully and be deposited or lowered on a mattress.

10. When an inclined chute is employed, such chute shall be constructed of 1-inch planed boards with side guards 4 inches high extending 3 inches above top face of bottom of chute and throughout its length fastened with brass screws. D-shaped strips or runners not more than 6 inches apart and running lengthwise of the chute must be fastened to the upper surface of the bottom part by means of glue and wooden pegs extending through the bottom part and runners. Chutes must be occasionally wiped down with waste moistened with machine oil when dynamite packages are being handled. A stuffed mattress 4 feet wide by 6 feet long and not less than 4 inches thick, or a heavy jute or hemp mat of like dimensions, must be placed under the discharging end of the chute. The incline of the chute should be such that the velocity of the packages sliding will not be great enough to cause violent shock when coming in contact with other packages or when reaching the bottom of slide, or men must be stationed alongside the chutes to retard the velocity of the packages and prevent violent shocks when packages come in contact with each other or reach bottom of chute.

11. Broken or seriously damaged packages of explosives may be recoopered when it is practicable and not dangerous. A broken box of dynamite that cannot be recoopered should be reinforced by stout wrapping paper and twine, placed in another strong box, and surrounded by dry, fine sawdust, or dry and clean cotton waste, or elastic wads made from dry newspaper. A ruptured can or keg should be enclosed in a grain bag of good quality and boxed or crated. Injured packages thus protected and properly marked may be forwarded. Packages too seriously damaged to be recoopered should not be forwarded, but set aside and the shipper notified to make disposition of them. In removing broken cases or kegs of explosives from vessels, care must be taken to remove any particles of loose explosives.

12. The transportation of high explosives by water and the transfer of explosives to and from water craft in Hampton Roads and the harbors of Norfolk and Newport News shall be made under the direct supervision of such special inspectors as may be assigned for the purpose by the captain of the port, but this is not to be construed as charging the captain of the port with any respon sibility in connection with the navigation of such water craft. Owners or agents of water craft, transferring or carrying such cargoes, will be required to provide subsistence, when crews are subsisted on board, and, when necessary, suitable sleeping accommodation for special inspectors and for guards placed on board by the captain of the port, and for such period as he may specify. When crews are not subsisted on board, subsistence for inspectors and guards will not be required, but every opportunity will be afforded to them to use such cooking facilities as are provided for the crews.

13. In any case of violation of the regulations in regard to the handling of explosives, the captain of the port is empowered to remove any vessel, or any man or men from the waters to which these regulations pertain or to stop the loading or unloading of explosives in said waters.

14. Nothing in the foregoing shall be construed as relieving the master of any vessel carrying explosives from the responsibility of making frequent inspections, both by day and night, to see that these rules are complied with.

PORT ADMINISTRATION

1. State or municipal officials and bodies having jurisdiction over the port and over the various phases of its administration.—Jurisdiction over the port of Hampton Roads and over all other tidewater ports within the State of Virginia is vested in the State Port Authority of Virginia. Any of the tidewater cities and towns may appoint municipal boards of port commissioners to which may be delegated authority with regard to the ownership, operation, management or control of port terminal facilities within such cities and towns. Such authority, however, is exercised in subordination to the authority conferred on the State Port Authority of Virginia by the general assembly.

2. Organization of port administrative bodies.-The State port authority is composed of five members, designated port commissioners, appointed by the governor for a term of 4 years, subject to the approval of the senate. They serve without compensation. A chairman and vice chairman are chosen by the port authority from among its members.

The port authority is empowered to employ an executive director, termed "director of the port." His services are at the pleasure of the commissioners and for such compensation as they may elect. They may also engage such other personnel as may be necessary.

3. Duties and powers of port officials and bodies.-The port authority is charged with the development of the ports and the promotion of their maritime and commercial interests. It was formed to promote cooperation between the several port cities and to coordinate their terminal facilities. It promulgates and enforces rules and regulations for the construction, alteration, and extension of piers, wharves, and other harbor structures and regulates sanitary conditions, fire hazards, private dredging operations, etc. The port authority is a corporation and enjoys all rights, powers, and immunities incident to that form of organization.

4. Laws establishing port authorities and relating to port and harbor administration. The State port authority was created by an act of the General Assembly of Virginia (Senate bill 171) adopted in March 1926.