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Load Lines
Load Lines
amendments - to make certain improvements to the text and to the chart of zones and seasonal
amendments - to introduce the principle of 'tacit acceptance' into the Convention;
amendments - to make some alterations to zone boundaries off the coast of Australia; and
amendments - to extend the summer and tropical zones southward off the coast of Chile.
The Protocol was primarily adopted in order to harmonize the Convention's survey and certification
requirement with those contained in SOLAS and MARPOL 73/78.
All three instruments require the issuing of certificates to show that requirements have been met and this
has to be done by means of a survey which can involve the ship being out of service for several days.
The harmonized system alleviates the problems caused by survey dates and intervals between surveys which
do not coincide, so that a ship should no longer have to go into port or repair yard for a survey required by
one Convention shortly after doing the same thing in connection with another instrument.
The 1988 Load Lines Protocol revised certain regulations in the technical Annexes to the Load Lines
Convention and introduced the tacit amendment procedure (which was already applicable to the 1974 SOLAS
Convention).Amendments to the Convention may be considered either by the Maritime Safety Committee or
by a Conference of Parties.
Amendments must be adopted by a two-thirds majority of Parties to the Convention present and voting.
Amendments enter into force six months after the deemed date of acceptance - which must be at least a
year after the date of communication of adoption of amendments unless they are rejected by one-third of
Parties. Usually, the date from adoption to deemed acceptance is two years.
The 1995 amendments
Adopted: 23 November 1995
Entry into force: 12 months after being accepted by two-thirds of Contracting Governments.
Status: superseded by 2003 amendments
The 2003 amendments
Adopted: June 2003
Entry into force: 1 January 2005
The amendments to Annex B to the 1988 Load Lines Protocol include a number of important revisions, in
particular to regulations concerning: strength and intact stability of ships; definitions; superstructure and
bulkheads; doors; position of hatchways, doorways and ventilators; hatchway coamings; hatch covers;
machinery space openings; miscellaneous openings in freeboard and superstructure decks; cargo ports and
other similar openings; spurling pipes and cable lockers; side scuttles; windows and skylights; calculation of
freeing ports; protection of the crew and means of safe passage for crew; calculation of freeboard; sheer;
minimum bow height and reserve buoyancy; and others.
The amendments, which amount to a comprehensive revision of the technical regulations of the original Load
Lines Convention, do not affect the 1966 LL Convention and only apply to approximately those ships flying
the flags of States Party to the 1988 LL Protocol. (See Status of Conventions - Summary)