The present invention relates to an arrangement in interiors of ships, such as general cargo ships, where holds following fore-and-aft are equipped with opposite end bulkheads extending transversely and where end bulk¬ heads of each pair of fore-and-aft following holds form pairs of transversely extending partition bulkheads having an intermediate compartment and with access from the com¬ partment to adjacent holds.

For safety, for example cargo anchoring and cargo stability reasons, it is important for the ship's crew to be able to gain access in a ready manner to different levels of each hold immediately a need arises for this. Correspondingly it is important for crew reasons to furnish extra evacuation routes in difficult situations. Furthermore it is of decisive importance for freight and ship, that both the end bulkheads and the partition bulk¬ heads, which define the fore-and-aft following holds rela¬ tive to each other, can guarantee a desired effective sealing of the holds individually and mutually between the holds. On a possible leakage to a hold on the one side of an end bulkhead or a partition bulkhead, one must be able to ensure that the leakage will not be transmitted to adjacent spaces, for one thing to the compartment between the .partition bulkheads or to the hold or the holds on the other side of the remaining partition bulkhead relative to

the compartment. It is therefore necessary to have effec¬ tive sealing arrangements in connection with each access opening in the end bulkhead or partition bulkhead.

With a common passage via the intermediate compart¬ ment to the holds on opposite sides of the said compart¬ ment, it is necessary tohave particularly extensive sealing arrangements in connection with each access opening. Further it is necessary to have extensive proce¬ dures in order to guarantee sealing each time the access openings are to be used. Certain problems are presented in practice to carry out such extensive procedures and' to furnish suitable sealing arrangements for the various access openings, so that the openings can be opened and closed in a relatively simple manner as required and at the same time sealing ensured on a possible leakage, also on the occurrence of large fluid pressures. Specifically when a ready access passage is to be provided from the compartment between two partition bulkheads to each of the respective fore-and-aft adjacent holds via the adjacent partition bulkheads, it is particularly necessary to have important safety measures, so that through openings are not formed simultaneously through both partition bulk- heacts.

Hitherto steep ladders have been employed to a great extent as the possibility for access to the various access openings. From the ladders it has been difficult to open and close the access openings in a satisfactory manner. In order to obtain a satisfactory degree of safety, a small nuβπber of access openings have been employed in practice from each compartment to each of the adjacent holds.

With the present invention the objective is a simpler solution, where an arbitrary number of access openings can be employed to each hold, without the use of complicated sealing arrangements or with moderate demands for using sealing arrangements in connection with the

access openings and with minimal need for safety measures in connection with opening and closing of the access openings.

The arrangement according to the invention is char¬ acterised in that one end bulkhead of each hold and pre¬ ferably both end bulkheads or partition bulkheads on the side facing away from the hold, is/are provided with a flight of steps with connection to the hold via associated landings and access openings at respective levels above each other.

By this there is firstly the possibility of provid¬ ing easy access to the respective hold via an arbitrary number of access openings with ready opening and closing of the access openings and with reliable sealing of the access openings each time there are used.

The arrangement according to the invention is further characterised in that the compartment between the partition bulkheads between each pair of holds is divided, by means of a heightwise and fore-and-aft extending parti tion bulkhead, into two separate compartment portions, which have their respective mutually separated access passages each to its of their hold(s) on a respective sid of the pair of partition bulkheads.

In certain instances two or more holds can be employed transversely by the side of each other, while in other instances such as in the preferred embodiment which is shown herein, there are employed connected holds over the whole breadth of the ship, but separated fore-and-aft by said partition bulkheads.

By means of the mutually separated access passages, which are separated from each other by a common, fore- and-aft extending partition bulkhead, there is the possi¬ bility of maintaining the access openings of the two access passages permanently separated relative to each other in a simple and ready manner, so that the opening

and closing of the single access opening must not neces¬ sarily be subjected to strict work routines and must not necessarily have imposed strict requirements for sealing.

Arrangements according to the invention are futher characterised in that the flights of steps are defined between an upper and a lower partition bulkhead to form obliquely extending, shaft-forming access passages in the transverse direction of the ship, and that the flights of steps extend parallel to each other each on its respective side of a common, central partition bulkhead.

By this there can be obtained with the aid of simple means a^constructionally simple and operatively reliable solution. At the sime time effective access passages can ibe obtained with simple means, which demand little space and whieh have relatively low volume, and nevertheless pr vide the possibility for easy access to generally arbi¬ trary levels in the holds.

^"■ Further features of the invention will be evident frcan the following description having regard to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of a general cargo ship according' to the invention.

Fig. 2 shows in a cross-section along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, mutually separated access passages via a common, intermediate compartment to fore-and-aft following holds.

In Fig. 1 there is illustrated a general cargo ship -10 having six mutually separated holds lla-llf following fore-and-aft. Each hold is provided with two opposite, transverse enύ? bulkheads 12,13. Between each pair of holds there are erected two transverse extending end bulkheads of partition bulkheads 12,13 with an intermediate parti¬ tion-forming compartment 14. Each hold is provided with a hatch opening 15 which stretches fore-and-aft from the one end bulkhead 12 to the other end bulkhead 13 and transver¬ sely from side bulkhead 16 to side bulkhead 17 which are arranged a distance within a respective ship's side 18 and

19. The compartment 14 stretches correspondingly from side bulkhead 16 to side bulkhead 17 and over the whole height of the hold. Above the holds are covered by an upper deck 20 which on the under side carries transport means 21-25 for conveying freight in the fore-and-aft direction, in the transverse direction and in the height direction internally of the ship together with between the inner side of the ship and the outer side of the ship via upper side port openings 26. Below bottom 27 og the holds and bottom side 28 of the ship there is shown a bottom space 29.

The compartment 14, which is defined between two mutually parallel, transversely extending end bulkheads or partition bulkheads 12,13 and which forms a boundary be¬ tween two fore-and-aft following holds, is as shown in Fig. 2, provided above with a pair of pivotable access hatches 30,31 to their respective separate access passages 32 and 33 extending shaft-like obliquely downwards. Each of the access passages 32,33 is defined between the trans versely extending end bulkheads 12,13 and an intermediate, fore-and-aft extending, common bulkhead 34 together with their respective additional, intermediate, fore-and-aft extending bulkheads 35 and 36. The bulkheads 34-36 run parallel to each other, so that oblique downwardly exten¬ ding, mutually separated access passages 32,33 are formed from their respective upper access hatches 30,31 to the bottom of the passage. In each access passage a separate flight of steps 32a and 33a is arranged each provided wit a row of landings 32b and 33b and with a row of associate access openings 32c and 33c from each of their respective landings to each of their respective holds, which only communicate with their respective associated access passage and not with the remaining access passage.

By means of the said common bulkhead 34 there is provided an effective partition between the access passages 32,33 and their respective holds, so that the individual access passage can form a part of a closed unit toghether with the associated hold.

By means of the two reamining bulkheads 35 and 36 the access passages can be defined in a manner requiring little space relative to the remainder of the compartment, such as illustrated by the compartment portions 37,38.

Without being illustrated specifically herein flights of steps with associated landings and access openings are also designed on the end bulkheads which define endwise the row of holds and which do not border on an .adjacent hold.

In the preferred embodiment according to the inven¬ tion each end bulkhead or each partition bulkhead is pro¬ vided with its respective row of access openings connected to its respective flight of steps. By this provision is made for the possibilities of access at opposite ends of each hold, with the possibility for access and evacuation, via an arbitrary number of access openings.

Alternatively, where the conditions dictate, the possibility of access can only be employed at the one end of each hold. In -such a case the possibilities of access can be concentrated via only certain of the compartments between the holds impacting in pairs.