MSC 107: SOLAS Amendments Adopted and Titanic Remembered

The IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) held its 107th session from May 31 to June 9, 2023.

Highlights of the meeting included the adoption of amendments to the LSA Code and MSC.81(70) Revised recommendation on the testing of life-saving appliances for the ventilation of totally enclosed lifeboats. ABS reports that the Committee adopted Resolution MSC.533(107) introducing amendments to the LSA Code to provide performance requirements that will require totally enclosed lifeboats to provide a means of ventilation operable from inside the lifeboat at a rate of not less than 5 m3/hour per person, for the number of people the lifeboat is permitted to accommodate and for a period of at least 24 hours.

Where the means of ventilation is powered, the source of power shall not be the radio batteries, and if dependent upon the lifeboat engine, then sufficient fuel shall be provided. The openings for the ventilation are to be provided with a means of closing that is operable from inside the lifeboat and positioned to minimize the ingress of water.

The amendments will enter into force on January 1, 2026, and are to be applied to totally enclosed lifeboats installed on or after January 1, 2029.

Lloyd’s Register reports that the session also saw the adoption of amendments to SOLAS chapter II-1 for onboard lifting appliances, and guidelines for both lifting appliances and anchor handling winches and their associated items of loose gear. Additionally, amendments were adopted to SOLAS chapter II-2 and consequential amendments to the 1994 and 2000 High Speed Craft (HSC) Codes to prohibit the use of fire-fighting foams containing perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) due to its toxic nature.

MSC 107 also adopted amendments to SOLAS Chapter V, the Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate, the Cargo Ship Safety Certificate, Form E and Form C, the 1978 & 1988 SOLAS Protocols for the mandatory carriage of electronic inclinometers which are linked to the VDR, on new container ships and bulk carriers of 3,000GT and over.

Additional MSC 107 achievements include the approval of the MSC circular on Interim guidelines for the safety of ships using LPG fuels; significant progress in the work on the new Code for autonomous vessels (MASS); the adoption of the International Code of Safety for Diving Operations 2023; and the approval of Interim guidelines on safe operation of onshore power supply service in port for ships engaged on international voyages.

IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim noted in his closing remarks that the members at the meeting were informed of an initiative developed by the UK, the US, France and Canada concerning the shipwrecked Vessel RMS Titanic to ensure a standardised, international approach to preserving the wreck and resting site of more than 1,500 people aboard when it sank.

“The Titanic is inextricably linked to IMO as the tragedy led to the creation of SOLAS, which is still the fundamental basis for ship safety today. I would like to encourage Member States to support the initiative by signing the Agreement.”