by the abbreviated method. Each certificate states what spaces are included in gross tonnage and what spaces shall be deducted therefrom in the calculation of net tonnage. The certificate issued to decked vessels is the one most frequently used. It is printed here as form 4. 1. Length of vessel from the rear face of the prowpost to the rear face of sternpost on the uppermost permanent deck (in vessels with patent rudder, measure to middle of rudder post).. 2. Greatest beam of vessel between outer surfaces of planking or of the wales.... 3. Depth of hold from lower surface of the upper permanent deck to the upper surface of lower transoms next to the keelson, or to upper surface of the inner iron double bottom, if there is one, at middle of length as found in 1....... 4. Greatest length of engine room, including any permanent coal bunkers, between the limiting bulkheads extending from side to side... Meters. Cubic meters. Cubic meters. Registered tons. In accordance with the ship measurement ordinance of March 1, 1895, this measurement certificate is made out from the measurement completed on day of 19.., by the measurement board NOTE. The following constructions on or above the upper deck are considered open spaces, and are, therefore, not included in the above measurements of gross and net tonnage: 61861°-13-5 AMERICAN GROSS TONNAGE RULES. In 1864, by the law approved May 6, the United States adopted the Moorsom system of measuring vessels to determine their gross tonnage. The measurement system then adopted by the United States was practically the same as Great Britain had established by the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854. The act of 1864, however, made provision only for the determination of gross tonnage, which until 1882 was the tonnage upon which tonnage taxes and other ship charges were levied at American ports. The spaces included in measurement and the spaces exempted therefrom by the law of 1864, as interpreted by the measurement authorities in the United States, were the same as the spaces measured and exempted under the rules of the British Board of Trade prior to the modification of those rules made necessary by the decision of the House of Lords in the Bear case in 1875. Large spaces which the Board of Trade rules consider open and thus not subject to measurement are properly included in measurement and gross tonnage under the American regulations. The act of May 6, 1864, was amended by a law passed February 28, 1865, which provided that— No part of any ship or vessel shall be measured or registered for tonnage that is used for cabins or staterooms and constructed entirely above the first deck, which is not a deck to the hull. The Customs Regulations of the United States (see Appendix II, p. —, to this volume) state that this amendment— Was designed merely to exclude cabins and staterooms above the "promenade" deck of the steamers of the seacoast and lakes, or above a "boiler" deck as used on the western rivers. It does not have the effect to exempt from admeasurement any closed-in place, even if so situated, if used for cargo or stores. Although the amendment of February 28, 1865, was enacted with reference to coastwise, lake, and river steamers, it was also applied to ocean steamers. Thus in the case of modern passenger steamers which have several tiers of passenger accommodations above the upper deck only the first tier is measured. This rule regarding upper tiers of superstructures prevails in no other country and is without justification. The measurement rules of the United States provide in general that the gross tonnage of a vessel shall include "the entire internal cubical capacity" ascertained by the Moorsom system in a manner prescribed by statute. Specifically stated, the spaces included in the measurement, and thus in the gross tonnage, are the following: 1. The entire space under the tonnage deck and between the tonnage and upper decks. 2. The space occupied by hatchways in excess of one-half of 1 per cent of the vessel's gross tonnage exclusive of the tonnage of hatchways. 3. Any "break, poop, or any other permanently closed-in space on the upper deck available for cargo or stores or for the berthing or accommodation of passengers or crew." What constitutes a closed-in space is defined in the manner explained above. Moreover, the law of 1865 provides that the passenger accommodations in the tiers of superstructures over the first tier above the upper deck shall be exempted from measurement. The gross tonnage rules of the United States exempt the following spaces from measurement: 1. Double bottom water ballast spaces not available for cargo, stores, or fuel and the between the frames and the floor beams. spaces 2. Spaces under the shelter deck and in the poop, forecastle, and bridge, when not permanently closed in. 3. Passenger accommodations in tiers of superstructures over the first tier above the upper deck. 4. Hatchways up to one-half of 1 per cent of the vessel's gross tonnage. 5. Galleys, bakeries, toilets, and bathhouses above decks. 6. Spaces above decks occupied by the ship's machinery or for the working of the vessel. 7. Light and air and funnel space over the engine and boiler room to the extent that such space is above the upper deck or the "shelter deck" when that is taken as the uppermost fulllength deck, except when special request is made by the shipowner to have the space measured. 8. Domes and skylights, companionways (except portion used as smoking room), and ladders and stairways located in exempted spaces. 9. Open spaces occupied by deck loads are not measured under the American rules. The inclusion in or exemption from measurement of particular superstructures depends, under the American rules, upon the judgment of the individuals who measure the ship as to whether the spaces are closed-in or open. The practice of admeasurers has not been entirely uniform. The definition of closed-in spaces, as given in the customs regulations and as formulated by the surveyor of the port of New York, were stated above. In general, the American treatment of the shelter-deck spaces is the same as that given such spaces by the Suez Canal Co. The American regulations, however, do not provide that when a shelter deck has once been used for cargo it shall always thereafter be considered a closed-in space; but if an American admeasurer finds that dry cargo is carried in any space he takes that fact as evidence that the space is closed-in. The Suez and American practice in this regard, as has been explained, differs from that of Great Britain and Germany, where the character of the openings and the devices for closing the openings, rather than the use made of the spaces, determine whether the admeasurers shall consider the spaces as open or closed-in. Form 5 reproduces the American certificate of admeasurement issued under the authority of the Bureau of Navigation, in the Department of Commerce. The certificate indicates in general what spaces are included in measurement, and thus in gross tonnage, and states what spaces shall be deducted therefrom in calculating net tonnage. - ; anchor gear (below deck), -; boatswain's stores, Steering gear (below deck), -; propelling power (below deck or by permission of Commissioner of Navigation) Tons. 100ths. 1 If a foreign vessel, this may be erased. To be signed by the master, owner, or other person who may attend the admeasurement for the vessel. of Customs. 191-. COMPARISON OF THE GROSS TONNAGE RULES OF GREAT BRITAIN, THE SUEZ CANAL CO., GERMANY, AND THE UNITED STATES. The foregoing account of gross tonnage attempts to explain the leading characteristics of the measurement rules of Great Britain, the Suez Canal Co., Germany, and the United States. The spaces included within gross tonnage and those exempted from measurement are enumerated, and the different treatment given to above-deck spaces is explained. To facilitate comparison of these four codes of rules, their differences and similarities may well be set forth by textual and tabular enumeration. The provisions of the several rules regarding spaces included in measurement are as follows: 1. In each set of rules gross tonnage is assumed to include all parts of a vessel that are permanently inclosed. The capacity of such spaces is determined by Moorsom's measurement system applied with but slight variation by the several rules. 2. In each case the spaces under the tonnage deck and between the tonnage and upper decks are included in gross tonnage. 3. Hatchways in excess of one-half of 1 per cent of the gross tonnage, exclusive of hatch-. ways, are included in the tonnage. 4. In theory closed-in spaces above the upper deck are included in the measurement and tonnage and open spaces are exempted. Measurement rules and practice, however, vary as regards these spaces. The treatment accorded superstructures and "shelter-deck" spaces in the measurement rules of Great Britain, the Suez Canal Co., Germany, and the United States are compared in detail below in Table I. The provisions in the four sets of gross tonnage rules under consideration in regard to spaces exempted from measurement may be compared as follows: 1. Double-bottom spaces used for water ballast are exempted from measurement, unless (in the case of the national but not of the Suez Rules) they are available for cargo, stores, or fuel. The methods of measurement are such as to exempt spaces between the ship's frames and its floor beams. 2. The same below-deck spaces are included in all four codes of measurement rules. 3. The application of the Moorsom system of measurement varies slightly with the different rules, and the under deck tonnage of the same vessel might be slightly different when measured by different rules. The treatment accorded each of the several above-deck structures and the below-deck spaces is shown for each of the four sets of rules in Table I. TABLE I. Measurement of gross tonnage under the measurement rules of Great Britain, the Suez Canal Co., Germany, and the United States. |