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SOLAS AMENDMENTS
Published: 5 September 2023
The Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention is a cornerstone of maritime safety, setting out essential regulations and standards to ensure the safety of ships and their crews. As a reminder, there are changes to SOLAS coming into force on 1st January 2024, some of the notable changes entering into force include:
Safe mooring operations: The latest SOLAS regulations aim to enhance mooring safety by introducing extra criteria for the choice, configuration, inspection, maintenance, and replacement of mooring equipment, which includes lines. It will be mandatory to furnish and maintain documentation related to the mooring arrangement’s design and the selection of mooring equipment on board.
Amendments to Life-Saving Appliances: SOLAS Chapter III will introduce new requirements for life-saving appliances, including improved design and testing standards for lifeboats, rescue boats, and launching and embarkation appliances.
Ships using LNG as fuel: The International Code for Safety for Ships utilizing Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code) has undergone revisions to incorporate lessons learned since its adoption in 2017.
Modernisation of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS): The GMDSS requirements have been updated to incorporate broader, non-specific criteria, independent of service providers. Additionally, obsolete system carriage requirements have been eliminated.
Watertight doors on cargo ships: The requirements to watertight doors in MARPOL Annex I, the Load Lines Convention, the IBC Code and the IGC Code have been amended to harmonise the consideration of watertight doors in damage stability calculations with the same in SOLAS.
For more information on these upcoming changes to the SOLAS Convention, we recommend referring to the DNV (Det Norske Veritas) bulletin on this topic. DNV is a trusted source of maritime expertise, and their bulletin provides comprehensive insights into the regulatory changes, their implications, and guidance on compliance. Members requiring any further guidance may also contact the loss prevention department.