All Ship Types

Ship Design, Construction & Maintenance

In addition to the requirements contained in the SOLAS Convention, ships constructed on or after 1 July 1986 shall be designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with the structural, mechanical and electrical requirements of a classification society -- recognized by the Administration to meet minimum technical and management capabilities, infrastructure and size as specified by Resolutions A.739(18) and A.789(19) --, or with applicable national standards of the Administration which provide and equivalent level of safety.

Precautions Against Electrical Shock

An amendment to SOLAS regulation II-1/45 harmonizes it with amendment No.2 of IEC 92-101, Electrical Installations in Ships. Specifically, the lower limit of voltage, either direct or rms, supplied to electrical equipment or machines which may become live under fault conditions was reduced from 55 volts to 50 volts for purposes of determining when such equipment should be grounded.

Composite Materials

A Guideline recommending the general methodology to evaluate the structural and fire integrity performance of composite materials envisaged to be equivalent to steel, as permitted under SOLAS, was adopted. The guideline aims to establish a data base of performance test data concerning the behavioral characteristics of a material's strength as a function of temperature. Based on test specimens with an applied scaled load (determined from the material’s application on board a ship), IMO's existing guidelines for testing smoke, toxicity, fire class divisions and non-combustibility are used as a basis. Once testing has been undertaken and results obtained, an adequate safety margin can be applied and the material fitted for ship construction commensurate with the structural and fire class division requirements.

Thermal Protection Test

A MSC Circular containing supplemental testing for fire resistance of type “A”, “B” and “F” class window divisions was approved. The recommendation specifies the test procedure for measuring heat radiation through windows and the criteria for assigning its classification which is used as a basis to characterize its ability to maintain the integrity of thermal and structural boundaries for use in marine construction.

Approval of Inflatable Liferafts

The MSC adopted changes to an existing Guideline concerning the approval process of servicing stations for inflatable liferafts. The “necessary additional pressure” (NAP) tests will only be permitted; provisions for acceptance of equivalent alternatives have been removed. Also, the overload suspension tests have been made to apply to liferafts with unsupported floor seams. Finally, provisions for recognition of service stations approved by other Administrations has been included.

Life Saving Appliances and Arrangements

A new Chapter III of SOLAS on Life Saving Appliances and Arrangements was adopted. It applies to all ships built on or after 1 July 1998 and to life saving appliances (LSA) that may be replaced on existing ships on or after this date.

The new Chapter incorporates the general and LSA carriage requirements that were previously under Parts A & B of Chapter III. However, new requirements addressing anti-exposure suits for rescue boat crews and marine evacuation systems providing rapid transfer of persons from the embarkation stations for all ship types were introduced. Additional requirements for passenger ships which include measures to facilitate the rapid recovery of survivors, provisions for fast rescue boats (20-25 knots), helicopter landing area and decision support systems to assist the master during emergency situations such as fire, damage. personnel accidents and cargo related accidents. The passenger ship requirements emanate

The LSA Code, which incorporates the technical details, is mandatory through the new Chapter III. It was separated in order that it could more easily be upgraded as new concepts or technology are realized. Included are testing requirements (technical details) for all life saving appliances (life boats, liferafts, life buoys, rescue boats, anti-exposure suits, etc.) presently required by SOLAS.

Water-Based Fire Extinguishing Systems

The MSC approved amendments to the guidelines for testing water-based fire extinguishing systems. Applicable to machinery and cargo pump room spaces, the amendments pertain to mock-up room minimum dimensions, installation locations according to engine room volume and the size and fuel oil pressure of the installed engine.