What are the Shipboard Cable Standards?

It has become the unspoken rule of the modern industrial world that whenever some new object is created and distributed, it is done according to some set standards.

Likewise, for shipboard cable production and distribution, some standards have been set.

A few examples are given below:

• IEC60092:

This is an international level standard set by IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) that mainly refers to power as well as instrumentation cables that are to be used in ships and other water vessels.

The main parts of IEC60092 that deal with electrical installations are given below:

• IEC60092-350:

It mostly refers to general construction as well as test methods of power, control, and instrumentation cables for shipboard and other offshore applications.

It excludes optical fiber, data and communication, and coaxial cables.

• IEC60092-352:

This standard usually deals with the selection and installation of electrical cables that are used in fixed electrical systems with a usual voltage rating of 15kV on the board ships.

• IEC60092-353:

This standard refers to single as well as multi-core non-radial power cables with extruded solid insulation, which usually have voltage ratings of 1 kV and 3 kV.

The cables are best suited to maintain circuit integrity during a fire.

• IEC60092-354:

It mainly refers to single as well as three-core power cables with extruded solid insulation, conductor, and core screening, used in fixed installations, and best suited for rated voltages of 6 kV-30kV.

• IEC60092-376:

This standard includes cables for control and instrumentation circuits.

These cables can either be screened or un-screened and are usually suitable for a voltage rating of 150/250 V.

• JIS C3410:

JIS or Japanese Industrial Standards are the set of standards that were put forth by the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee (JISC).

Their standard JIS C3410 refers to shipboard cables, and it was last updated in 2018.

It mainly refers to the cables designed for electrical inhalations on the ship.

• BS 6883 & BS7917:

As the name indicates, these are the British standards for the cable designation.

Both of these standards complement each other.

BS6883 refers to fixed, shipboard wiring of power cables, propulsion circuit, instrumentation, lightning cables as well as the control panel.

It deals with a voltage rating of up to 8.7/15kV.

BS7919 deals with the wide variety of cables used in fixed wiring applications on offshore as well as onshore units.