Convention & Resolutions

3/5/2021 Understanding IMO Conventions and resolutions - MySeaTime
We all come across so many IMO resolution, conventions and

circulars while being in shipping industry.
So many that we may get confused sometimes as to what purpose each

of these serve. we now take a look at each one of these, starting with
IMO resolutions.
1. Resolution
At IMO, Maritime resolutions are issued by the Assembly, The council and
by each of the committee.
Each committee brings resolutions to amend part of International

convention that they are associated with.
Like Maritime safety committee handles conventions related to safety. The

most popular being “International convention for safety of life at Sea
(SOLAS)” and STCW convention.
So MSC brings resolutions to amend any part of these conventions.

Similarly MEPC’s resolutions amends MARPOL convention and Facilitation
Committee’s resolutions amends FAL convention.
Each resolution of IMO looks something like this
XYZ.123(34)
Where the initial letter(s) shows who has passed this resolution.
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The letter can be A (for Assembly), C (for Council), MSC (For Maritime
safety committee), MEPC (for Maritime environment pollution committee),
FAL (Facilitation committee) or LEG (legal Committee).
The next number shows the resolution number and it is in chronological

order.
The number in the bracket shows the sessions in which this resolution
was adopted. So the resolution MSC.374(93) refers to the MSC resolution
number 374 which was adopted in the 93rd session of the MSC.
Why to amend a convention
The only permanent thing in this world is Change. And the way we move
our cargoes through sea and the way ships are operating at sea is
changing every single day.
A convention passed 30 years back may have many elements which are
not applicable today. Same way, We might discover new strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats, which were not the part of original
convention.
Take an example of Security. Post year 2001, suddenly the world realised
a new threat to the shipping which was security. And to address that, we
could either bring a security convention or amend an existing convention
to include security.
Drafting, ratification, approving, acceptance and implementing a new

convention is a tedious and time consuming process.
So unless the new identified threats are too unique to be included in the
existing conventions, it is always better to amemd the existing
convention.
Take another example of Convention of pollution prevention at sea

(MARPOL). Pollution was totally different from safety and so instead of
including MARPOL in SOLAS convention, we got new convention called
MARPOL.
Also take an example of Ballast water convention. The topic of ballast

water was much debatable. The debate was on its inclusion in the
MARPOL as another annex or as a stand alone convention.
Even though ballast water was considered to be a kind of pollution but at

the end it was agreed that the ballast water is a unique area from other
pollutions and hence instead of including it in MARPOL, a new convention
was adopted.
See the results, ballast water convention was adopted in 2004 and as of
1st Jan 2016, ballast water convention is still not ratified.
How resolutions are proposed, adopted and passed
For a resolution to come into effect, there are 5 main steps
1. A contracting government need to propose a resolution.
2. IMO or its respective committee need to review the resolution proposal
3. Resolution need to be adopted in the IMO and finally
4. Resolution need to be accepted by the contracting governments
5. After a fixed time from acceptance, a resolution enters into force.
Proposal of the resolution

There are two ways an amendment to a maritime convention can be
proposed to the IMO.
1. By any contracting government
2. By a group of contracting governments.
Clearly in the first option any contracting government can propose an

amendment to the secretary general.
SG would pass the proposal to the MSC or MEPC for review. MSC or MEPC
in consultation with appropriate sub-committee would draft and submit
the resolution for adoption.
In the second option, A contracting government proposes the amendment

for which they have concurrence of atleast one-third of the contracting
governments.
The concurrence by the other governments can be given to the

appropriate committee. In this case, the committee arranges for a
conference of the contracting governments to consider the amendments.
The advantage of the second option is that it is the faster way of

proposing and adopting an amendment to the convention.
Adoption of a resolution
Resolutions are adopted by voting in Maritime safety committee or
Maritime Environment Protection Committee. There are 2 conditions for a
resolution to be adopted
1. Atleast one-third of the contracting governments should be present for

voting. On this date, there are 174 countries that are members to the
IMO. So for a resolution to be adopted, at least 58 countries should be
present.
2. At least two-third of the contracting governments present, should vote

in favor of resolution. So if 60 countries were present, at least 40
countries should vote in favor of the resolution.
If the proposal to the amendment was made through the conference,
1) the first condition would be met considering there would be high

chances of the one-third of the governments present for voting.
2) The second condition should also be met as all of the one-third

governments had given the concurrence to the amendment.
This is the reason, the proposal by the conference would be adopted

faster.
Acceptance of the resolution

A resolution once adopted, it is passed to all contracting governments for
acceptance. The Secretary general communicates the adopted resolution
to all contracting governments.
The process of acceptance of a resolution was a tedious one but IMO did
a great job in amending the process itself.
Earlier the acceptance of a resolution was linked with the number of

governments that has accepted it. IMO would wait for years to have the
numbers on their side to implement a resolution.
This was due to many governments not responding because of “neither

agree nor disagree” situation.
And the governments had their reasons to be in that situations. Most of

the times the governments were not sure if
1. the amendment brought by the resolution are in best interest of their

country.
2. If they can effectively implement the resolution
3. if they have resources to implement the amendments and so on
Whatever the reasons, but the acceptance of resolutions used to take a

lot of time.
IMO then introduced the tacit way of acceptance of a resolution. Even

though not all the resolutions are accepted with tacit acceptance
procedures but most of them are.
For example Marpol convention as per article 16 f(ii) gives authority to

MEPC to decide if the amendment will be accepted by tacit acceptance or
explicit acceptance.
The acceptance of a resolution to amend SOLAS convention is only done

by tacit acceptance.
Tacit Acceptance of a resolution

In simple terms “tacit acceptance” means “accepted unless objected”. It is
opposite of earlier process of “rejected unless accepted”.
Under tacit acceptance, a resolution is accepted on an agreed time

interval from adoption unless it is objected by a number of contracting
governments.
The committee decides the agreed interval during adoption of resolution.

However there is minimum interval that is set in respective conventions.
For example as per Marpol convention, the minimum interval between

adoption and acceptance has to be 10 months. Same way, as per SOLAS
the minimum interval should not be less than one year.
SOLAS convention has also specified maximum interval between adoption

and acceptance as 2 years.
How many number of government need to object for a resolution not to

be accepted is also mentioned in respective conventions. These are
usually
1. one-third of the contracting governments or
2. contracting governments that constitutes not less than 50% of the

world gross tonnage
At the end of the deadline, if a contracting government has not taken any
action (accepting or rejecting the proposed resolution), it is implied (tacit)
that government has accepted the resolution.
Entry in force of a resolution
Once a resolution is accepted by tacit means or otherwise, it then enter

into force. But there is a time specified in respective conventions on when
the accepted resolution would enter into force.
For example as per SOLAS and MARPOL convention, a resolution would

enter into force 6 months after it has been accepted.
2. Convention
Now that we know how a resolution amends a maritime convention, Its

time to take a dive into the what conventions actually are.
What is a convention
There are many different ways to define a convention. A convention is a
formal agreement between states.
Or a convention is an instrument which is negotiated under an

international organisation such as United Nations.
There are number of conventions that IMO has given to maritime

industry. To Name a few, these are
International convention on safety of life at sea.
International convention on prevention of marine pollution
FAL convention
Loadline convention
Salvage convention
Convention is not a law

It is important to highlight that convention is not a law in itself. A
convention becomes a law when it is implemented in a country’s own
legal system.
SOLAS convention is not a law itself. But when a country adopts and
includes it as legislation in their country, it becomes law for them. UK,
Singapore and India have included it as legislation called Merchant
Shipping act. USA call it CFR.
How a convention come in force
For a convention to come in force, it need to be adopted at IMO, ratified

by the contracting governments and brought into force.
Proposal & Adoption of a convention

Typically an event, incident or a research study can trigger a need for a
new convention. Incident of ‘Titanic’ triggered a need of SOLAS
convention.
Incident of ‘Torrey Canyon’ triggered a need of MARPOL convention. And

lately various research studies triggered the need of ballast convention.
Discussions on these incidents and research studies in shipping and other

related industries is part of sessions of IMO committees and sub-
committees.
Once IMO identifies a need for a new convention, the respective

committee assisted by various sub-committees work on adopting the
convention.
Ratification of the convention

Signature, ratification, acceptance, approval and accession are different
ways in which a state (read country) can give their consent to be bound
by the convention.
All these ways concerns the legality of procedure so we will not dig deep
into it.
But the idea is that the states need to be ready for the new convention
and they should give their consent for that by one of these ways. When a
convention is adopted, it is usually agreed on how many states need to
ratify the convention for it to come in force.
For example, the Ballast water convention requires at least 30 states to

ratify which should represent at least 35% of the world gross tonnage.
Ballast water convention is just close to retification. On this date even

though forty-seven countries have ratified the convention, their combined
gross tonnage only represent the 34.56% of the world tonnage.
3. Circulars
There number of circulars issued at IMO by different committees and sub-

committes. And these circulars divided into more than 50 subjects.
Circulars related to Salvage, SUA, Ballast water management, GMDSS and

STCW all are part of the circulars issued at IMO. But the most important
or rather the one that seafarers are more associated with are MSC and
MEPC circulars.
These are the circulars issued by MSC and MEPC respectevely. The former
being circulars related to safety matter and latter related to pollution.
What does Circulars are for
We all know what company circulars that we get onboard are for. It gives
information / clarification on various subjects related to company’s SMS
manual.
It may also give latest incident summary. In short it is running log of

important communication from ship to shore.
IMO circulars serves similar purpose. Among other thing, the circular are
used for clarification, interpretation or guidance on its various codes and
conventions.
We can now looks into how MSC and MEPC circulars look like.
MSC Circulars
As obvious, MSC circulars are related to the maritime safety. The MSC has
divided its circulars in six sub-categories and are numbered from one to
six. Any MSC circular number would look like this
In this MSC ofcourse denotes that it is circular issued by Maritime safety

committe of IMO.
The number 1 denotes the sub-category of the circular. ‘Circ.’ tells us that
it is a circular and the number in the last is the circular number which is
numbered in chronological order.
The six sub categories that MSC circulars are divided into are
MSC.1 : Circulars related to general information disseminated by MSC

on safety matters
MSC.2 : Circulars related to MSC- Implementation of codes and

recommendations adopted by the assembly
MSC.3 : Circulars on Illegal immigrants
MSC.4 : Circulars on piracy matters
MSC.5 : Circulars related to resolution 950(23) which is “Maritime

assisstance services
MSC.6 : Other circulars related to safety
MEPC Circular
Again as obvious, MEPC circulars are related to information on matters

concerning maritime pollution. MEPC circulars are divided into seven sub-
categories. These categories are numbered from one to seven. Any
circular issued by MEPC would look like this
In this MEPC denotes that the circular is issued by Maritime environmenta

protection committee.
The number next is the number of sub-category that the circular belongs
to. The letters ‘Circ’ detones that it is a circular and finally the number is
the circular number which is in chronological order.
The seven Sub-categories that MEPC circulars are divided into are
MEPC.1 : Circular relating to general information disseminated by the

MEPC on pollution matters
MEPC.2 : Circular relating to Provisional categorization of liquid

substances
MEPC.3 : Circular relating to Facilities in ports for the reception of oily

wastes from ships
MEPC.4 : Circular relating to Facilities in ports for the reception of

noxious liquid substances (NLS) residues from ships carrying chemicals
in bulk
MEPC.5 : Circular relating to Pollution prevention equipment required

by MARPOL
MEPC.6 : Circular relating to List of national operational contact point or

points responsible for the receipt, transmission and processing of
urgent reports on incidents involving harmful substances including oil
from ships to coastal states
MEPC.7 : Circular relating to Maritime Environment Protection

Committee on pollution matters
We have only discussed the MSC and MEPC circulars. But there are more
than 50 categories in which IMO circular are divided.
Each category has again different sub-categories like we have for MSC
and MEPC circulars.
Conclusion
Finally to conclude in short, IMO conventions are set of rules which when
adopted by a country’s legal system, becomes law for that country.
There is a growing need to amend these conventions to keep pace with

the fast moving world and technology. The conventions are amended by
the IMO resolutions which are passed by the committees.
The committees also communicates the interpretation, guidance and

clarifications for the conventions by the various time to time circulars.

Convention &amp; Resolutions

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3/5/2021 Understanding IMO Conventions and resolutions - MySeaTime

We all come across so many IMO resolution, conventions and

So many that we may get confused sometimes as to what purpose each

Each committee brings resolutions to amend part of International

Like Maritime safety committee handles conventions related to safety. The

So MSC brings resolutions to amend any part of these conventions.

Each resolution of IMO looks something like this

The next number shows the resolution number and it is in chronological

Why to amend a convention

Drafting, ratification, approving, acceptance and implementing a new

Take another example of Convention of pollution prevention at sea

Also take an example of Ballast water convention. The topic of ballast

Even though ballast water was considered to be a kind of pollution but at

How resolutions are proposed, adopted and passed

For a resolution to come into effect, there are 5 main steps

1. A contracting government need to propose a resolution.

2. IMO or its respective committee need to review the resolution proposal

3. Resolution need to be adopted in the IMO and finally

4. Resolution need to be accepted by the contracting governments

5. After a fixed time from acceptance, a resolution enters into force.

Proposal of the resolution

1. By any contracting government

2. By a group of contracting governments.

Clearly in the first option any contracting government can propose an

In the second option, A contracting government proposes the amendment

The concurrence by the other governments can be given to the

The advantage of the second option is that it is the faster way of

1. Atleast one-third of the contracting governments should be present for

2. At least two-third of the contracting governments present, should vote

If the proposal to the amendment was made through the conference,

1) the first condition would be met considering there would be high

2) The second condition should also be met as all of the one-third

This is the reason, the proposal by the conference would be adopted

Acceptance of the resolution

Earlier the acceptance of a resolution was linked with the number of

This was due to many governments not responding because of “neither

And the governments had their reasons to be in that situations. Most of

1. the amendment brought by the resolution are in best interest of their

2. If they can effectively implement the resolution

3. if they have resources to implement the amendments and so on

Whatever the reasons, but the acceptance of resolutions used to take a

IMO then introduced the tacit way of acceptance of a resolution. Even

For example Marpol convention as per article 16 f(ii) gives authority to

The acceptance of a resolution to amend SOLAS convention is only done

Tacit Acceptance of a resolution

Under tacit acceptance, a resolution is accepted on an agreed time

The committee decides the agreed interval during adoption of resolution.

For example as per Marpol convention, the minimum interval between

SOLAS convention has also specified maximum interval between adoption

How many number of government need to object for a resolution not to

1. one-third of the contracting governments or

2. contracting governments that constitutes not less than 50% of the

Entry in force of a resolution

Once a resolution is accepted by tacit means or otherwise, it then enter

For example as per SOLAS and MARPOL convention, a resolution would

Now that we know how a resolution amends a maritime convention, Its

Or a convention is an instrument which is negotiated under an

There are number of conventions that IMO has given to maritime

International convention on safety of life at sea.

International convention on prevention of marine pollution

Convention is not a law

How a convention come in force

For a convention to come in force, it need to be adopted at IMO, ratified

Convention & Resolutions

Convention & Resolutions