2. That the committee should also inquire and report as to the desirability and practicability of fitting ships with (a) a deck or decks at a convenient distance or distances above the water line which shall be water-tight throughout a part or the whole of the ship's length; and should in this connection report upon (b) the means by which the necessary openings in such deck or decks should be made water-tight, whether by water-tight doors or water-tight trunks or by any other and what means.
3. That the committee should consider and report generally on the practicability of increasing the protection given by subdivision, the object being to secure that the ship shall remain afloat with the greatest practicable proportion of her length in free communication with the sea.
4. That when the committee has reported upon the matters before mentioned, the board of trade should take the report into their consideration and to the extent to which they approve of it should seek statutory powers to enforce it in all newly built ships, but with a discretion to relax the requirements in special cases where it may seem right to them to do so.
5. That the board of trade should be empowered by the legislature to require the production of the designs and specifications of all ships in their early stages of construction and to direct such amendments of the same as may be thought necessary and practicable for the safety of life at sea in ships. (This should apply to all passenger-carrying ships.)
LIFEBOATS AND RAFTS.
6. That the provision of lifeboat and raft accommodation on board such ships should be based on the number of persons intended to be carried in the ship and not upon tonnage.
7. That the question of such accommodation should be treated independently of the question of the subdivision of the ship into water-tight compartments. (This involves the abolition of rule 12 of the Life Saving Appliances Rules of 1902.)
8. That the accommodation should be sufficient for all persons on board with, however, the qualification that in special cases where, in the opinion of the board of trade, such provision is impracticable, the requirements may be modified as the board may think right. (In order to give effect to this recommendation changes may be necessary in the sizes and types of boats to be carried and in the method of stowing and floating them. It may also be necessary to set apart one or more of the boat decks exclusively for carrying boats and drilling the crew, and to consider the distribution of decks in relation to the passengers' quarters. These, however, are matters of detail to be settled with reference to the particular circumstance affecting the ship.)
9. That all boats should be fitted with a protective continuous fender, to lessen the risk of damage when being lowered in a seaway.
10. That the board of trade should be empowered to direct that one or more of the boats be fitted with some form of mechanical propulsion.