Key IMO Conventions SOLAS Convention.

International convention for the safety of life at sea, 1974 and subsequent amendments. International Maritime Organization. This international convention is the most important instrument governing ship safety. Its scope is broad, including: - construction & strength, - subdivision and floodable lengths, - intact & damaged stability of ships, - fire protection, - machinery & fire protection, - safe navigation, - communications and - a range of similar matters that relate to the safety of shipping. It refers to several important IMO Codes, including: - the Life-Saving Appliances (LSA) Code and - the International Ship Management (ISM) Code. MARPOL Convention. International convention for the prevention of pollution from ships, 1973/87 and subsequent amendments. International Maritime Organization. This is the most important instrument governing pollution prevention from ships. MARPOL addresses: - discharges of oil (engine room waste oil, cargo tank oil residue in oil tankers), - noxious liquids and chemicals, - harmful substances in packaged form, - sewage - garbage - air pollution - ballast water Some elaboration: - Oil (and chemical) tankers must have double bottoms and sides to prevent pollution due to grounding or collision. - oil tankers must have segregated ballast tanks to avoid mixing ballast and oil in their cargo tanks - segregated ballast tanks are typically arranged as side wing tanks and in the double bottom the double hull. MARPOL sets minimum dimensions for wing tank width and double bottom height.
Brian Veitch, EN4042, Tel: 864-8970, e-mail: bveitch@mun.ca, website: http://www.engr.mun.ca/~bveitch/

- Sewage: limits discharge of sewage (e.g. discharge into the sea close to land is prohibited; discharges of treated sewage is allowed away from land; raw sewage can be discharged farther from land. - Garbage: no plastics are to be discharged; other garbage can be discharged far from shore or can be incinerated. - Air pollution: NOx & SOx, the by products of burning heavy fuel oil, are significant air pollutants. Restrictions on emissions can have an impact on fuel type and exhaust gas treatment. Note that when the regulations on double hulls were adopted in 1992, they applied to new ships (and not to very small tankers). Single hulled oil and products tankers (w/o segregated ballast) had to be phased out over a period of years. As ships have a long life, this grandfathering clause had the effect of pushing the complete phase out of single hulled tankers out to 2015. ILLC Convention. International Convention on Load Lines, 1966. International Maritime Organization. The 1966 International Load Line Convention is, together with the SOLAS, the most important convention concerning internationally agreed matters of ship safety. Its fundamental philosophy is to provide protection against the sea and so is concerned with a complete evaluation of seaworthiness of a vessel. The load line assigned to a vessel is a measure of the maximum draft to which the vessel can be loaded and operated safely. The distance between the load line and the uppermost continuous deck is the freeboard of the vessel. The basic criteria by which seaworthiness is measured, and therefore governing load line assignment, can be summarized as: - possess adequate structural strength for the intended service; - possess adequate stability for the intended service; - prevent entry of water into the hull (ensure that the hull is watertight from the keel to freeboard deck and weathertight above the freeboard deck); - provide protection to the deck crew (ensure working decks are high enough above the water surface to allow safe personnel movement in heavy seas); - possess enough reserve buoyancy (watertight volume above the waterline) to prevent foundering or plunging in heavy seas; - limit deck wetness.
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The rules used to determine freeboard are empirical and have evolved over the past century. As these rules are based on experience with ship types and ship sizes existing in 1966, their applicability to new ship types, or to ships beyond the then current size range, must be questioned. Besides the introduction and development of new ship types and technology in the last 4+ decades, the inherent weaknesses of the ILLC 66 have been recognized. These changes point to a need to establish a new convention for seaworthiness. Tonnage Convention. International convention on tonnage measurement of ships. International Maritime Organization. A ships tonnage is a measure of the volume of all enclosed spaces on the ship. It is used in various regulations, such as safe manning requirements. It is also the basis of registration fees and port fees. The Tonnage convention applies to ocean-going (international voyages) ships (25m length and larger). Gross Tonnage, GT = KV where V= volume of all enclosed spaces (in m3) & K =0.2+0.02logV Net Tonnage is a function of the cargo volume and the number of passengers. Note that the Panama and Suez Canal authorities both assess fees based on tonnage, but they use their own methods of measuring it. STCW Convention. International convention on standards of training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers. International Maritime Organization. The STCW Convention sets the basic international benchmarks for competence of seafarers. It covers a range of required competences, including for safe navigation, operation of rescue craft and lifeboats, first (medical) aid and firefighting. IMO SAR Convention. International convention on maritime search and rescue. International Maritime Organization. The SAR Convention deals with requirements of signatory nations for the provision of search and rescue response to people in distress at sea, wherever they might be. The SAR Convention provides a framework for SAR operations.

Examples of IMO Codes LSA Code. International life-saving appliance code (LSA Code). International Maritime Organization. The IMOs LSA Code specifies detailed technical requirements for the provision of lifesaving appliances as required by the SOLAS Convention. It covers survival craft, including lifeboats, liferafts, rescue craft, and their associated launching devices. It also specifies requirements for personal life-saving appliances, alarms, and visual aids related to emergencies. ISM Code. International safety management code (ISM Code). International Maritime Organization. Formulation of the ISM Code was catalyzed by shipping accidents (in particular the Herald of Free Enterprise) and subsequent inquiries that identified the need to ensure shipping companies take responsibility for managing the safety of their ships, including taking measures to meet all relevant regulatory requirements. Reference material Watson, D.G.M. 1998. Practical ship design. Elsevier Ocean Engineering Book Series. Lamb, T. (ed.) 2003. Ship design and construction. 2 Vols. SNAME. Dokkum, K. van. 2003. Ship knowledge a modern encyclopedia. Innovative Marine Product Development LLC. Lewis, E.V. (ed.) 1988. Principles of naval architecture, 3 Volumes, SNAME. Molland, A.F. 2008. The maritime engineering reference book: A guide to ship design, construction and operation. Butterworth-Heinemann. Alman, P., Cleary, W.A. Jr., Dyer, M.G., Paullin, J.R., and Salvensen, N. 1992. The International Load Line Convention: crossroad to the future. Marine Technology, Vol.29, No.4, pp.233-249. Cleary, W.A. Jr. and Ritola, A.P. 1980. Load line assignment. In Ship Design and Construction, Taggart, R. (ed.), The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Boisson, P. 1999. Safety at Sea, Policies, Regulations & International Law. Editions Bureau Veritas, 550 pp.