The Government of Netherlands has notified ClassNK to follow the requirements for periodic maintenance, inspection and testing of portable fire extinguishers defined by IMO Res. A. 951 (23) on board the Netherlands flag ships as follows:

Periodic Maintenance, Inspection and Testing of Portable Fire Extinguishers
1. Extinguishers should be subject to periodical inspections in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and serviced at intervals not exceeding one year.
2. At least one extinguisher of each type manufactured in the same year and kept on board a ship should be test discharged at five yearly intervals (as pert of a fire drill).
3. All extinguishers together with propellant cartridges should be hydraulically tested in accordance with the recognized standard or the manufacturer's instruction at intervals not exceeding ten years. The hydraulic test should be carried out at the test pressure as mentioned on the extinguisher or 1.5 times of the maximum working pressure of the extinguisher.
4. Annual services and inspections may be carried out by a ship's officer, but the 5 or 10 yearly services and inspections have to be carried out by a shore side company based on the Inspection Guide in attached table.
5. Records of inspections should be maintained. The records should show the date of inspection, type of maintenance carried out and whether or not a pressure test was performed.
6. Extinguishers should be provided with a visual indication of discharge.
7. Instructions for recharging extinguishers should be supplied by the manufacturer and be available for use on board.

For any questions about the above, please contact:

NIPPON KAIJI KYOKAI (ClassNK)
Survey Department, Administration Center, Head Office
Address: 4-7 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8567, Japan
Tel.: +81-3-5226-2027 / 2028
Fax: +81-3-5226-2029
E-mail: svd@classnk.or.jp