🔍 Key Concepts

• 46 CFR requirements for fuel tanks forward of the collision bulkhead on vessels over 300 GT • How vessels and equipment are treated when they were installed before a certain cutoff date (grandfathering provisions) • The difference between design/installation date versus the physical characteristics of the tank (thickness, distance from hull, flash point)

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself which option sounds like a regulatory exception for older vessels rather than a general design or safety standard that would apply to all tanks. • Consider whether the rule is more likely to focus on when the tank system was put in service, or on how thick/where/how hot the tank and fuel are. • Eliminate any option that seems like a common-sense construction or fire‑safety rule that would probably apply everywhere, not just to tanks forward of the collision bulkhead.

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify in 46 CFR that there is a date-specific allowance for certain fuel tanks on vessels built before July 1, 1974. • Check whether there is any special rule that allows tanks forward of the collision bulkhead only if they were already designated and installed a certain way before that date. • Confirm that conditions like tank shell thickness, flash point, or inboard distance are covered in more general fuel-tank construction/arrangement rules, not as the unique exception for this specific forward location.