IACS: Requirements for escape routes from machinery spaces

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has issued amended unified interpretations regarding the escape from machinery spaces on passenger and cargo ships.

These UI enter into force on 1 July 2025.

UI SC276 outlines requirements for escape routes from machinery spaces on passenger ships. Below the bulkhead deck, ships must provide two escape options: either two steel ladders, one in a fire-protected enclosure, or one steel ladder with a separate steel door for alternative escape. Above the bulkhead deck, two widely separated escape routes are required, with access to lifeboat and liferaft decks. Machinery control rooms must have two escape routes, one ensuring continuous fire shelter to a safe area outside the machinery space. Specific standards apply to ladder size and fire protection.

UI SC277 specifies escape requirements for machinery spaces on cargo ships. For Category A spaces, which are critical areas, two escape routes are mandated: either two steel ladders leading to upper deck doors, one in a fire-protected enclosure, or one ladder to an upper deck door plus a separate steel door below for an alternative exit. Other machinery spaces also require two escape routes, except where access is infrequent or travel distance to an exit is short. The interpretation defines "safe positions" and sets standards for ladder/stairway inclinations and widths.

For more information, please see the documents below (available only to subscribers):

Escape from Machinery Spaces on Passenger Ships

Escape from Machinery Spaces on Cargo Ships