32.Counter weight in sounding pipe

Sounding pipes for engine room double-bottom tanks are equipped with counterweight self-closing cocks. It is imperative that sounding pipe caps or cocks be kept shut and well maintained. Sounding pipes are a potentially dangerous source of progressive flooding. An engine room can be flooded through an open sounding pipe if a ship’s bottom is holed. A cargo hold can be flooded through an open deck sounding pipe when water is washed on deck in heavy weather. Holes in weather deck air pipes also cause hold flooding during heavy weather.