SOLAS - History & Objective

 

RMS Titanic

History of SOLAS:

• The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships. 

• The first version of SOLAS was adopted in 1914, in response to the Titanic Disaster. 

• The 1914 treaty never came into force due to the outbreak of the First World War. 

• Further second and third versions were adopted in 1929 and 1948 respectively.

• The fourth version of SOLAS was adopted on 17 June 1960 and entered into force on 26 May 1965.

• The next version of SOLAS was adopted in 1974 which includes the Tacit acceptance procedure. 

• This convention is amended and updated on numerous occasions. The conversion in force today is sometimes referred to as SOLAS, 1974 as amended.

• The fourth version of SOLAS was adopted on 17 June 1960 and entered into force on 26 May 1965.

• The next version of SOLAS was adopted in 1974 which includes the Tacit acceptance procedure.

• This convention is amended and updated on numerous occasions. The conversion in force today is sometimes referred to as SOLAS, 1974 as amended.

(Tacit Acceptance - It provides that an amendment shall enter into force on a specified date unless, before that date, objections to the amendment are received from an agreed number of parties)

 

The Objective of SOLAS:

• The main objective of the SOLAS Convention is to specify minimum standards for the construction, equipment and operation of ships, compatible with their safety.

• Flag states are responsible for ensuring that ships under their flag comply with their requirements, and a number of certificates are prescribed in the convention as proof that this has been done.

• Control provisions also allow Contracting Governments to inspect ships of other Contracting States if there are clear grounds for believing that the ship and its equipment do not substantially comply with the requirements of the convention - this procedure is known as Port State Control. 

• The current SOLAS Convention includes Articles setting out general obligations, amendment procedure and so on, followed by an annexe divided into 14 chapters.

SOLAS does not apply to:

• Unless expressly provided otherwise, SOLAS shall apply to all ships on all voyages except:

• Ships on war and troopships

• Ships not propelled by mechanical means

• Cargo ships of less than 500 gross tonnage

• Wooden ships of primitive build

• Pleasure yachts not engaged in trade

• Fishing vessels

• Ships solely navigating in the Great Lakes of North America and the River St Lawrence as far east as a straight line drawn from Cap des Rosiers to west point, Anticosti Island and on the Northside of Anticosti Island, the 63rd meridian. 

• Warships, naval auxiliaries or other ships owned or operated by a Contracting Government and used only on government non-commercial service are encouraged to act in a manner constraint, so far as reasonable and practicable.

• The administration can decide to what extent this chapter V shall apply to ships operating solely in waters landward of the baselines which are established in accordance with international law.

• A rigidly connected composite unit of a pushing vessel and associated pushed vessel, when designed as a dedicated and integrated tug and barge combination, shall be regarded as a single ship for the purpose of this chapter.

• The administration shall determine to what extent the provisions of regulations 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 in chapter V do not apply to the following categories of the ship:

• Ships below 150 gross tonnages engaged in any voyage

• Ships below 500 gross tonnages not engaged on international voyages

•  Fishing vessels

Reference: www.imo.org