Collision bulkheads – remotely operated valves

C25058 | 24 October 2025

Notice to: Ship Owners/ Managers/ Operators/ Surveyors

The IMO Maritime Safety Committee has issued circular MSC.1/Circ.1692, which gives the approved unified interpretation of the term “remotely operated valve” as referred to in SOLAS regulation II-1/12.6.2 .

Points to Note:

• For compliance with SOLAS regulation II-1/12.6.2, as amended by resolution MSC.474(102), for ships constructed on or after 1 Jan 2024, the valve fitted on the pipe piercing a ship’s collision bulkhead below the bulkhead deck of passenger ships and the freeboard deck of cargo ships may be either a deck standing manual type or a mechanically powered type with a fail-close arrangement; and

• for the fail-close arrangement, the valve should be of an automatic fail-close type or should have an additional manual-closing function activated from a position above the bulkhead deck of passenger ships and the freeboard deck of cargo ships.

The circular also contains illustrations of various allowable and not allowable arrangements.

Act now

Ship Owners/ Managers/ Operators/ Surveyors should take note of the contents of MSC.1/Circ.1692 and be guided accordingly.