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Installation of Cables

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13.1 All cables shall be so constructed, installed and protected as to prevent danger to the ship and personnel.

13.2 The rated voltage of any cable shall be not less than the maximum voltage of the circuit for which it is used.

13.3 Cables exposed to voltage surges associated with highly inductive circuits shall, as a minimum, be insulated for 600 volts.

13.4 Cables or flexible cords shall not be installed in any location where the maximum conductor temperature, under normal conditions, exceeds the appropriate value set forth in Table 12-1.

13.5 Polyvinyl chloride insulated cables shall not be used in refrigerated spaces unless special low temperature PVC suitable for 40°C is used.

13.6 Cables having a sheath or covering of polyvinyl chloride shall not be used in refrigerated spaces or in any situation where it is necessary for them to pass through watertight bulkhead glands or deck tubes, unless special low temperature PVC is used in refrigerated spaces and heat resisting quality PVC is used through bulkheads or decks.

13.7 In machinery spaces and refrigerated spaces, or in wet or damp locations, cables shall, unless run in steel conduit or steel pipe, be:

  1. mineral insulated, copper sheathed;
  2. polychloroprene sheathed, or PVC sheathed, with or without braid; or
  3. thermosetting or thermoplastic sheathed with or without braid.

13.8 Main feeder cables for supplying power to elevators shall be installed outside the hoistway; only such electrical wiring, conduit and cable used directly in connection with the elevator, including wiring for signals, for communication with the car, for lighting and ventilating the car and wiring for fire detecting systems for hoistways, may be installed inside the hoistway.

13.9 All cables, other than travelling cables, installed for any purpose in an elevator shaft, shall, unless enclosed in rigid metal conduit, be:

  1. armoured;
  2. impervious sheathed and braid armoured; or
  3. mineral insulated, copper sheathed.

13.10 Cables shall as far as is practicable, be fixed in accessible positions, so chosen that the cables are not exposed to drip or accumulation of water or oil, steam or oily vapour, high temperature from boilers, steam pipes, exhaust pipes, radiators, resistors, or other hot objects or mechanical damage.

13.11 Cables, unless adequately protected shall not be laid under machines or floor plates.

13.12 Cables shall not be led across expansion joints in the superstructure unless this is unavoidable; where cables must cross an expansion joint they shall be arranged with a loop suitably supported and having an internal radius not less than twelve times the overall diameter of the largest cable, to ensure the necessary flexibility.

13.13 All cables within 9 metres of any receiving antenna system, radio room or radio navigation apparatus, unless a metallic deck or bulkhead intervenes, shall be metal sheathed, metal braided or otherwise adequately screened, or arranged so as to prevent the radiation or reception of interfering spurious signals.

13.14 Cables, other than those feeding services in a radio room shall not be installed therein, but cables which must pass through a screened radio room shall be run throughout their length within the room, in continuous metallic conduit or trunking which shall be bonded to the screening of the room at the points of entry and exit.

13.15 All cables which must enter the radio room shall be grouped together, so far as is practicable, so that they enter at one point only and when the radio room is screened, the screening of the cables entering the room shall be bonded to the room screening at the point of entry.

13.16 All cables supplying the services to an unscreened radio room shall pass through suitable interference filters at the point of entry of the cables into the screened sections, unless they terminate in equipment which in itself provides adequate screening and suppression.

13.17 Cables carrying pulses of high amplitude, and power cables supplying units in which such pulses are present, shall be segregated from cables for other services.

13.18 Where a cable is bent, the internal radius of the bend shall be not less than the appropriate value set forth in Table 13-1.

Table 13-1: Bending Radius of Cables

Insulant Finish Overall Diameter Minimum Internal Radius of Bend Times Overall Diamiter of Cable
E, P, S, T, X Non-armoured Not exceeding 9.5 mm & includes (*) 3
(*) for both armour or unarmoured " Exceeding 9.5 mm but not exceeding 25.4 mm & includes (*) 4
  " Exceeding 25.4 mm & includes (*) 6
  Armoured Any 6
M Copper sheath Any 6

13.19 Portable cords or portable cables shall not be used for fixed wiring.

13.20 Cables terminating in equipment capable of generating high temperatures, such as lighting fixtures, electric heaters, etc. shall be suitable for operation at the temperature of the fixture without sustaining damage to the insulation.

13.21 With the exception of low voltage communications circuits, joints in all electrical conductors are to be made in junction or outlet boxes; the splicing of cables shall comply with the requirements of subsections 13.39, 13.40 and 13.41.

13.22 Connections and terminations shall comply with the following:

  1. each connection to a conductor or terminal part of conductor that is larger than No. 10 AWG (5.3 mm²) must be made within an enclosure and have:
    1. a pressure-type connector on each conductor;
    2. a solder lug on each conductor;
    3. a splice made with a pressure-type connector to a flexible lead or conductor; or
    4. a splice that is soldered, brazed or welded to a flexible lead or conductor.
  2. each connection to a conductor or a terminal part of a conductor that is No. 10 AWG (5.3 mm²) or smaller must be made within an enclosure and:
    1. meet paragraph (a) of this subsection; or
    2. have clamps or screws with terminal plates that have up-turned lugs or other suitable means to capture the terminal;
  3. a connector or lug of the set screw type must not be used except if it is equipped with a non-rotating follower that travels with the setscrew and makes pressure contact with the conductor;
  4. where twist-on type connectors are used the connections shall be made within an enclosure and the insulated cap shall be secured to prevent loosening due to vibration;
  5. wire connectors utilized in conjunction with screw-type terminal blocks must be of the captive type such as the ring or the flanged spade type;
  6. each pressure-type wire connector and lug must meet meets ANSI/UL-486A-1997 (American National Standards Institute / Underwriters Laboratories).

13.23 Cables shall be effectively supported and secured in order to prevent chafing or other injury.

13.24 Where the weight of cables is independently supported by a metallic cable support system, the spacing of the cable clips or restraints may be increased to maximum of 1 metre.

13.25 Metallic staples shall not be used for fixing any cables.

13.26 Permanently installed cables shall be secured by corrosion-resistant, flame-retardant cable restraints having smooth edges and so rounded that the cables remain tight without their coverings or insulation being damaged.

13.27 Where non-metallic cable restraints are used to secure cables in wireways or metallic trays which are mounted in the vertical or inverted position, metallic brackets or metallic cable straps suitably positioned and adequate to support the weight of the cables, shall be provided.

13.28 All metal coverings of cable shall be electrically continuous throughout their entire length and shall be effectively grounded to the hull of the ship at both ends, except for branch circuits which may be grounded at the supply end only; the metallic braid or sheath shall be terminated at the gland or connector at which the cable enters the enclosure and shall be in good electrical contact with the enclosure.

13.29 Metallic cable support systems used for supporting cables, unless of corrosion-resistant material, shall be galvanized, or provided with equally effective protective coatings applied before erection.

13.30 All cables passing through watertight decks or watertight bulkheads shall be provided with deck tubes or watertight glands or transits as appropriate.

13.31 Where cables passing through beams, non-watertight bulkheads, etc., the openings through which they pass shall be finished in a manner that will prevent chaffing of cables during installation and throughout the life of the vessel.

13.32 Where single-core cables are used for ac circuits and dc circuits with high ripple content rated in excess of 20 amperes:

  1. the armour, if any, shall be of non-magnetic material;
  2. if installed in steel conduits or pipes, or steel casing, the cables shall always be so bunched that the cables of all phases and the neutral, if any, are in the same conduit, pipe or casing;
  3. magnetic materials shall not be used between single-core cables of a group; where the cables pass through steel plates, all the conductors of the same circuit shall pass through a non-ferrous plate or gland so that there is no magnetic material between the cables, and the clearance between the cables and magnetic material shall not be less than 75 mm; and
  4. the orientation and length of single-conductor metal-sheathed, armoured or non-armoured cables in parallel, with respect to each other and to those in other phases, shall be such as to minimize the difference in inductive reactance and the unequal division of current.

Note: For guidance regarding “Configurations for Installation in Parallel of Single Conductor Cables” refer to appendix B, Part I, Canadian Electrical Code.

13.33 The braid or metallic sheath of cables shall be terminated at the point of entry into the enclosure.

13.34 The ends of mineral-insulated, copper-sheathed cables shall be so sealed as to prevent the ingress of moisture; such sealing materials and any material used to insulate the conductors where they emerge from the insulation shall have adequate insulating and moisture-resisting properties and shall retain these properties throughout the range of temperatures to which the cable-end is to be subjected in service.

13.35 Cables shall not be installed in, or be in direct contact with, oil fuel tanks.

13.36 Except as provided hereafter, conductors of similar conductivity in sizes #1/0 AWG (53.5 mm²) and larger may be in parallel provided they are:

  1. free of splices throughout the total length;
  2. the same cross-sectional area;
  3. the same type of insulation;
  4. the same length; and
  5. terminated at both ends in a connector specifically designed for use with conductors in parallel or in individual connectors on a solid bus-bar with a separate screw or stud for each connector to ensure equal division of current.

13.37 Conductors of similar conductivity may be run in parallel to supply control power to indicating instruments and control provided:

  1. they are contained within one cable;
  2. the ampacity of each individual conductor is sufficient to carry the entire load current shared by the paralleled conductors; and
  3. the overcurrent protection is such that the ampacity of each individual conductor will not be exceeded if one or more of the paralleled conductors becomes inadvertently disconnected.

13.38 All vital power, control and signal cables shall avoid high fire and damage risk areas such as galleys, machinery spaces, hazardous zones etc., except where necessary to provide services to the particular space.

13.39 Where the following conditions apply, the method of splicing cables shall be in accordance with subsections 13.40 and 13.41:

  1. cables installed in a sub-assembly spliced to cables installed in another sub-assembly;
  2. for a vessel receiving alterations, a cable spliced to extend a circuit;
  3. a cable having a large size or exceptional length spliced to facilitate installation;
  4. a cable spliced to replace a damaged section of the cable if, before replacing the damaged section, the insulation resistance of the remainder of the cable is measured and it is determined that the condition of the insulation is unimpaired.

13.40 All cable splices are to be made by a qualified person using a one-cycle compression tool; all cable splices are to have the following:

  1. a pressure-type butt connector which meets ANSI/UL-486A-1997( American National Standards Institute / Underwriters Laboratories);
  2. replacement insulation that has;
    1. the same or greater thickness than that of the original cable insulation;
    2. electrical properties that are the same as or better than the electrical properties of the cable original insulation;
    3. the heat transfer capability that is the same as or better than that of the original cable insulation;
  3. a watertight replacement jacket that is heat shrinkable or pre-stretched tubing of the same or greater thickness than that of the original cable jacket and that has properties that are the same as or better than those of the original cable jacket; this includes meeting the jacket requirements of IEEE Standard 45 1998 Section 8.9 and Tables 8-9 and 8-10;
  4. for armoured cable, replacement armour or a jumper that connects to the cable armour on each side of the splice and that maintains the electrical continuity of the cable armour;
  5. all material in a cable splice must be chemically compatible with all other material in the splice and with the materials of the cable;

13.41 A cable must not be spliced in a hazardous area.

13.42 A multi-conductor cable shall not contain circuits of different voltages except for the following:

  1. where the conductors within the multi-core serve circuits which constitute part of the same system;
  2. that the device to which the conductors are connected to are insulated for at least the same voltage as that of the circuit having the highest voltage; and
  3. terminal or connection boxes into which the multi-conductor enters shall have each voltage clearly and permanently identified and effective barriers provided within the enclosure to separate each voltage.

13.43 Non-metallic conduit shall not be installed within accommodation spaces, control stations, hazardous locations and service spaces.

13.44 Fiber Optic and speciality cables which have unique construction qualities such as coaxial cables etc. that are not in accordance with Section 12.3 shall be installed in accordance with the following:

  1. installed in accordance with the manufactures recommendations with particular attention to the radius of bends to avoid crushing or twisting and extreme pulling tension;
  2. to be physically separated from all other cables;
  3. have a fire stops provided at;
    1. vertically each deck level except where the levels are common between decks;
    2. each penetration of an A or B class boundary;
    3. cable entry to equipment;
    4. in a cableway that has an A-60 fire rating;
    5. in the accommodation, horizontally every fifteen (15) metres.

13.45 The splicing of fiber optic cables shall be of approved mechanical or fusion methods as per the manufacturers instructions.

13.46 When equipment or cables to be installed which may produce or be susceptible to Electro-Magnetic Induction (EMI) then consideration should be given to the following:

  1. their location;
  2. their proximity to other equipment or cables;
  3. the construction of the cable;
  4. their bonding and/or grounding as per the manufacturers instructions or recommendations.

13.47 Propulsion cables shall not have splices where it is necessary to replace cables due to damage the terminations shall be made in a terminal box sealed against the ingress of moisture or air and provides the terminations protection from mechanical damage.

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Date modified:
2010-01-14