The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is an international maritime treaty that sets minimum safety standards in the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships. The International Maritime Organization convention requires signatory

flag state The flag state of a merchant vessel is the jurisdiction under whose laws the vessel is registered or licensed, and is deemed the nationality of the vessel. A merchant vessel must be registered and can only be registered in one jurisdiction, but ma ...

s to ensure that ships flagged by them comply with at least these standards. The current version of SOLAS is the 1974 version, known as SOLAS 1974, which came into force on 25 May 1980. , SOLAS 1974 has 167 contracting states, which flag about 99% of merchant ships around the world in terms of gross tonnage. SOLAS in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships.

Signatories

The non-parties to SOLAS 1974 include numerous landlocked countries (for obvious reasons), as well as El Salvador,

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

and

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...

. Some others including Bolivia,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

and Sri Lanka, all considered

flag of convenience Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state ...

states, are deemed to have "potentially negative performance" regarding ratification.

Provisions

SOLAS 1974 requires flag states to ensure that ships flagged by them comply with the minimum safety standards in the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships. The treaty includes articles setting out general obligations, etc., followed by an annexe divided into twelve chapters, two new chapters were added in 2016 and 2017. Of these, chapter five (often called 'SOLAS V') is the only one that applies to all vessels on the sea, including private yachts and small craft on local trips as well as to commercial vessels on international passages. Many countries have turned these international requirements into national laws so that anybody on the sea who is in breach of SOLAS V requirements may find themselves subject to legal proceedings. ;Chapter I – General Provisions: Surveying the various types of ships and certifying that they meet the requirements of the convention. ;Chapter II-1 – Construction – Subdivision and stability, machinery and electrical installations: The subdivision of passenger ships into watertight compartments so that after damage to its hull, a vessel will remain afloat and stable. ;Chapter II-2 – Fire protection, fire detection and fire extinction: Fire safety provisions for all ships with detailed measures for passenger ships, cargo ships and tankers under the

FSS Code The FSS Code or International Code for Fire Safety Systems is a set of international treaties organised by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) under the SOLAS Convention that are designed to reduce the risk of fire, and aid in emergency re ...

and requirements for the carriage of gas as a fuel under the IGF Code ;Chapter III – Life-saving appliances and arrangements: Life-saving appliances and arrangements, including requirements for life boats, rescue boats and life jackets according to type of ship. The specific technical requirements are given in the International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code. ;Chapter IV – Radiocommunications: The

Global Maritime Distress Safety System The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) is a worldwide system for automated emergency signal communication for ships at sea developed by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) as part of the SOLAS Convent ...

(GMDSS) requires passenger and cargo ships on international voyages to carry radio equipment, including satellite Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and Search and Rescue Transponders (SARTs). ;Chapter V – Safety of navigation: This chapter requires governments to ensure that all vessels are sufficiently and efficiently manned from a safety point of view. It places requirements on all vessels regarding voyage and passage planning, expecting a careful assessment of any proposed voyages by all who put to sea. Every mariner must take account of all potential dangers to navigation, weather forecasts, tidal predictions, the competence of the crew, and all other relevant factors. It also adds an obligation for all vessels' masters to offer assistance to those in distress and controls the use of lifesaving signals with specific requirements regarding danger and distress messages. It is different from the other chapters, which apply to certain classes of commercial shipping, in that these requirements apply to all vessels and their crews, including yachts and private craft, on all voyages and trips including local ones. ;Chapter VI – Carriage of Cargoes: Requirements for the stowage and securing of all types of cargo and cargo containers except liquids and gases in bulk. ;Chapter VII – Carriage of dangerous goods:Requires the carriage of all kinds of dangerous goods to be in compliance with the International Bulk Chemical Code (IBC Code), The International Code of the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (IGC Code) and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code). ;Chapter VIII – Nuclear ships: Nuclear powered ships are required, particularly concerning radiation hazards, to conform to the Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships. ;Chapter IX – Management for the Safe Operation of Ships: Requires every shipowner and any person or company that has assumed responsibility for a ship to comply with the International Safety Management Code (ISM). ;Chapter X – Safety measures for high-speed craft: Makes mandatory the International Code of Safety for

High-speed craft A high-speed craft (HSC) is a high-speed water vessel for civilian use, also called a fastcraft or fast ferry. The first high-speed craft were often hydrofoils or hovercraft, but in the 1990s catamaran and monohull designs become more po ...

(HSC Code). ;Chapter XI-1 – Special measures to enhance maritime Safety: Requirements relating to organizations responsible for carrying out surveys and inspections, enhanced surveys, the ship identification number scheme, and operational requirements. ;Chapter XI-2 – Special measures to enhance maritime security: Includes the

International Ship and Port Facility Security Code The International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code is an amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention (1974/1988) on Maritime security including minimum security arrangements for ships, ports and government agencies. ...

(ISPS Code). Confirms that the role of the Master in maintaining the security of the ship is not, and cannot be, constrained by the Company, the charterer or any other person. Port facilities must carry out security assessments and develop, implement and review port facility security plans. Controls the delay, detention, restriction, or expulsion of a ship from a port. Requires that ships must have a ship security alert system, as well as detailing other measures and requirements. ;Chapter XII – Additional safety measures for bulk carriers: Specific structural requirements for bulk carriers over 150 metres in length. ;Chapter XIII - Verification of compliance: Makes mandatory from 1 January 2016 the IMO Member State Audit Scheme. ;Chapter XIV - Safety measures for ships operating in polar waters: The chapter makes mandatory, from 1 January 2017, the Introduction and part I-A of the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (the Polar Code).

History

Origin and early versions

The first version of SOLAS Treaty was passed in 1914 in response to the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which prescribed numbers of

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

and other emergency equipment along with safety procedures, including continuous radio watches. The 1914 treaty never entered into force due to the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Further versions were adopted in 1929 and 1948.

1960 version

The 1960 Convention was adopted on 17 June 1960 and entered into force on 26 May 1965. It was the fourth SOLAS Convention and was the first major achievement for International Maritime Organization (IMO). It represented a considerable step forward in modernizing regulations and keeping up with technical developments in the shipping industry.New amendments into force from 1st July 2014 for SOLAS Convention
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1974 version

In 1974 a completely new Convention was adopted to allow SOLAS to be amended and implemented within a reasonable timescale, instead of the previous procedure to incorporate amendments, which proved to be very slow. Under SOLAS 1960, it could take several years for amendments to come into force since countries had to give notice of acceptance to IMO and there was a minimum threshold of countries and

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically r ...

. Under SOLAS 1974, amendments enter into force via a tacit acceptance procedure – this allows an amendment to enter into force on a specified date, unless objections to an amendment are received from an agreed number of parties. The 1974 SOLAS came into force on 25 May 1980, 12 months after its ratification by at least 25 countries with at least 50% of gross tonnage. It has been updated and amended on numerous occasions since then and the Convention in force today is sometimes referred to as SOLAS, 1974, as amended. In 1975 the assembly of the IMO decided that the 1974 convention should in future use SI (metric) units only.

1988 version

In particular, amendments in 1988 based on amendments of International Radio Regulations in 1987 replaced Morse code with the

(GMDSS) and came into force beginning 1 February 1992. The issues covered by the treaty are set out in the list of sections (above).

Later amendments

The up-to-date list of amendments to SOLAS is maintained by the IMO. Previous amendments were made in May 2011. In 2015, another later amendment is the SOLAS Container Weight Verification Regulation VI/2. This regulation, implemented by the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) requires that the full weight of loaded containers must be obtained prior to being onboarded on an ocean vessel. Communicating a weight value has called for the introduction of a new Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) communication protocol called VGM (Verified Gross Mass) or VERMAS (Verification of Mass), and involves cooperation between ocean carriers, Freight Forwarders/NVOCCs
EDI providers
as well as exporters. The regulation states that exporters (shippers) are ultimately responsible to obtain a verified container weight. Originally scheduled for implementation on 1 July 2016, the regulation allows for flexibility and practical refinement according to the Maritime Safety Committee Memorandum #1548 to 1 October 2016.

References

External links

International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code – under the auspices of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) of 1 November 1974
(London, 4 June 1996)
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
Treaty in ECOLEX-the gateway to environmental law (English)
USCG: Lifesaving & Fire Safety Division

IMO: Status of Conventions

SOLAS: container weighing method 1 & 210 things you need to know about the new SOLAS regulations
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