IMSBC Section 5: Trimming Procedures
The cohesive and non-cohesive split, the three angle of repose bands, the B/10 unevenness criterion, and the crossover into the grain stowage provisions.
Section 5 of the IMSBC Code governs trimming, and it is graduated rather than uniform. Section 5.1 sets the general requirement and gives the master the right at 5.1.3 to require the cargo be trimmed level wherever there is any concern about stability. Section 5.3 routes cohesive cargoes back to 5.1 and excludes the angle of repose from their schedules. Section 5.4 carries the quantitative provisions for non-cohesive cargoes.
The full article will work through the three bands at 5.4.3, 5.4.4 and 5.4.5. A non-cohesive cargo with an angle of repose at or below 30 degrees flows freely like grain and shall be carried according to the provisions applicable to the stowage of grain cargoes. Above 30 and up to 35 degrees the surface unevenness is capped at one tenth of the breadth with a maximum of 1.5 m, and above 35 degrees at the same fraction with a maximum of 2 m.
It will also cover how a cargo is placed in one regime or the other, through the Appendix 3 paragraph 1.1 list of cargoes non-cohesive when dry and the paragraph 1.3 default that treats everything else as cohesive, and the paragraph 1.2 requirement to determine the angle of repose before loading is completed.