Important Definitions you must know Under SOLAS

Administration:

        Administration means the Government of the state whose flag the ship is entitled to fly.

 

International Voyage:

        It means a voyage from a country to which the present Convention applies to a port outside such country or conversely.

 

Passenger:

        A passenger is every person other than:

    • The master and the members of the crew or other persons employed in any capacity on board the ship on the business of that ship.
    • A child under one year of age.

        

Passenger Ship:

        A passenger ship is a ship that carries  more than twelve passengers

 

Cargo Ship:

        A cargo ship is any ship that is not a passenger ship

 

Tanker:

        A tanker is a cargo ship constructed or adapted for the carriage in bulk of liquid cargoes of an inflammable nature.

 

Fishing Vessel:

        A fishing vessel is a vessel used for catching fish, whales, seals, walrus or other living resources of the sea.

 

Nuclear Ship:

        A nuclear ship is a ship provided with a nuclear power plant.

 

Anniversary Date:

        Anniversary date means the day and the month of every year which will correspond to the date of expiry of the relevant certificate.

 

Trim:

        Trim is the difference between the draught forward and the draught aft, where the draughts are measured at the forward and aft terminals respectively, discarding any rake of the keel.

 

Permeability:

        Permeability of a space is the proportion of the immersed volume of that space that can be occupied by water.  

 

Machinery Space:

        Machinery spaces are the spaces between the watertight boundaries of a space containing the main and auxiliary propulsion machinery, including boilers, generators and electric motors primarily intended for propulsion. In case of unusual arrangements, the administration can define the limits of the machinery space.

 

Weathertight:

        Weathertight means that in any sea conditions water will not penetrate into the ship.

 

Watertight:

        Watertight means having scantlings and arrangements capable of preventing the passage of water in any direction under the head of water likely to occur in intact and damaged conditions.

 

Subdivision Length (Ls):

        The subdivision length of the ship is the greatest projected moulded length of that part of the ship at or below deck or decks limiting the vertical extent of flooding with the ship at the deepest subdivision draught. 

 

Main Steering Gear:

        It is the machinery, rudder actuators, steering gears, power units, if any, and ancillary equipment and the means of applying torque to the rudder stock necessary for effecting movement of the rudder to steer the ship under normal service conditions.

 

Auxiliary Steering Gear:

        It is the equipment other than any part of the main steering gear necessary to steer the ship in the event of failure of the main steering gear but not including the tiller, quadrant or components serving the same purpose.

 

Normal Operational and Habitable Condition:

        It is a condition under which the ship as a whole, the machinery, services, means and aids ensuring propulsion, ability to steer, safe navigation, fire and flooding safety, internal and external communications and signals mean of escape, and emergency boat winches, as well as the designed comfortable of habitability, are in working order and functioning normally.

 

Emergency Condition:

        It is the condition under which any services needed for normal operational and habitable conditions are not in working order due to the failure of the main source of electrical power. 

 

Main Source of Electrical Power:

        It is a source intended to supply electrical power to the main switchboard for distribution to all services necessary for maintaining the ship in normal operational and habitable conditions.

 

Emergency Source of Electrical Power:

        It is a source of electrical power, intended to supply the emergency switchboard in the event of a failure of the supply from the main source of electrical power.

 

Main Switchboard:

        It is a switchboard that is directly supplied by the main source of electrical power and is intended to distribute electrical energy to the ship's services.

 

Emergency Switchboard:

        It is a switchboard which in the event of power failure of the main electrical power supply system is directly supplied by the emergency source of electrical power and is intended to distribute electrical energy to the emergency services.

 

Dead Ship Condition:

        It is the condition under which the main propulsion plant, boilers and auxiliaries are not in operation due to the absence of power.

  

Maximum ahead speed:

        It is the greatest speed which the ship is designed to maintain in service at sea at the deepest seagoing draught.

 

Maximum astern speed:

        It is the speed which it is estimated the ship can attain at the designed maximum astern power at the deepest seagoing draught.

 

Accommodation Spaces:

        Accommodation spaces are those spaces used for public spaces, corridors, lavatories, cabins, offices, hospitals, cinemas, game and hobby rooms, barbershops, pantries containing no cooking appliances and similar spaces.

 

Bulkhead deck:

        It is the uppermost deck up to which the transverse watertight bulkheads are carried.

 

Cargo area:

        The Cargo area is that part of the ship that contains cargo holds, cargo tanks, slop tanks and cargo pump-rooms, cofferdams, ballast and void spaces adjacent to cargo tanks and also deck areas throughout the entire length and breadth of the part of the ship over the above-mentioned spaces.

 

Service spaces:

        Service spaces are those spaces used for gallery, pantries containing cooking appliances, lockers, mails and species rooms, storerooms, workshops other than those forming a part of machinery spaces and similar spaces and trunks in such spaces.

 

Special Category Spaces:

        These are those enclosed vehicle spaces above and below the bulkhead deck, into and from which vehicles can be driven and to which passengers can access. It may be accommodated on more than one deck provided that the total overall clear height for vehicles that do not exceed 10 m.

 

Helideck:

        It is a purpose-built helicopter landing area located on the ship including all structure, fire-fighting appliances and other equipment necessary for the safe operation of helicopters.

 

Crude Oil:

        Crude Oil is any oil occurring naturally in the earth whether or not treated to render it suitable for transportation and includes crude oil where the certain distillate fraction may have been removed or added. 

 

Central control station:

        It is a control station in which the following control and indicator functions are centralized:

    • Fixed fire detection and fire alarm system
    • Automatic sprinkler, fire detection and fire alarm systems
    • Fire door indicator panels
    • Fire door closure
    • Watertight door indicator panel
    • Watertight door Closure
    • Ventilation fans
    • General/Fire alarms
    • Communication systems including telephones
    • Microphones to Public Address System 

 

Fire Damper:

        It is a device installed in a ventilation duct, which under normal conditions remains open allowing flow in the duct and is closed during a fire, preventing the flow in the duct to restrict the passage of fire.

 

Smoke Damper:

  • It is a device installed in a ventilation duct, which under normal conditions remains open allowing flow in the duct and is closed during a fire, preventing the flow in the duct to restrict the passage of smoke and hot gases.
  • A smoke damper is not expected to contribute to the integrity of a fire-rated division penetrated by a ventilation duct.

 

Vehicle Carrier:

        It means a cargo ship with multi-deck ro-ro spaces designed for the carriage of empty cars and trucks ar cargo. 

 

Embarkation Ladder:         

        The ladder provided at the survival craft embarkation stations permits safe access to survival craft after launching.

 

Float-Free Launching:

        It is the method of launching a survival craft whereby the craft is automatically released from a sinking ship and is ready for use.

 

Free-fall Launching:

        It is the method of launching a survival craft whereby the craft with its complement of persons and equipment onboard is released and allowed to fall into the sea without any restraining apparatus.

 

Immersion Suit:

        An immersion suit is a protective suit that reduces the body heat loss of a person wearing it in cold water.

 


 

Anti-Exposure Suit:

        It is a protective suit designed for use by rescue boat crews and marine evacuation system parties.

 

Lightest Seagoing Condition:

        It is the loading condition with the ship on even keel, without cargo, with 10% stores and fuel remaining and in case of a Passenger ship with the full number of passengers and crew and their luggage.

 

Marine Evacuation System:

        It is an appliance for the rapid transfer of persons from the embarkation deck of a ship to a floating survival craft.

 

Survival craft:

        It is a craft capable of sustaining the lives of the person in distress from the time of abandoning the ship.

 

Thermal Protective aids:

        It is a bag or a suit made of waterproof material with low thermal conductance.

 


Inflatable Appliances:

        It is an appliance that depends upon non-rigid, gas-filled chambers for buoyancy and which is normally kept uninflated until ready for use.

 

Launching Appliances:

        Launching appliances or arrangement is a means of transferring a survival craft or rescue the boat from its stowed position safely to the water.

 

Rescue Boat:

        It is a boat designated to rescue persons in distress and to marshal survival craft. 

  

Bridge-to-bridge Communication:

        It means a safety communication between ships from the position from which the ships are normally navigated. 

 

Continuous Watch:

        It means that the radio watch concerned shall not be interrupted other than for brief intervals when the ship's receiving capability is blocked by its own communication or when facilities are under periodical maintenance.

 

Digital Selective Calling (DSC):

        It means a technique using digital codes which enables a radio station to establish contact with, and transfer information to other stations and complying with the relevant recommendations of the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR).

 

Direct-printing Telegraphy:

        It means automated telegraphy techniques which comply with the related recommendations of CCIR.

 

General Radio Communication:

        It means operational and public correspondence traffic, other than distress, urgency and safety messages, conducted by Radio.

 

INMARSAT:

        It means the Organisation established by the Convention on the International Maritime Satellite Organisation adopted on 3 September 1976.

 

International NAVTEX Service:

        It means the coordinated broadcast and automatic reception on 518 kHz of maritime safety information using narrow-band direct-printing telegraphy using the English Language.

 

Maritime Safety Information:

        It means navigational and meteorological warnings, meteorological forecasts and other urgent safety-related messages broadcasted to ship.

 

Polar-orbiting Satellite Service:

        It means a service that is based on polar-orbiting satellites which receive and relay distress alerts from satellites EPIRB's and which provides their positions.

 

Sea Area A1:

        It means an area, within the radiotelephone coverage of at least one VHF coast station in which continuous DSC alerting is available.

 

Sea Area A2:

        It means an area, excluding Sea Area A1, within the radiotelephone coverage of at least one MF coast station in which continuous DSC alerting is available.

 

Sea Area A3:

        It means an area, excluding Sea Area A1 and A2, within the coverage of an INMARSAT geostationary satellite in which continuous alerting is available.

 

Sea Area A4:

        It means an area outside Sea Area A1, A2 and A3.

 

Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS):

        It means maritime mobile services that identify the ships call sign recognised mobile satellite service identities and serial number identification which may be transmitted by the ship's equipment and used to identify the ship.        

 

Recognized Mobile satellite Service:

        It means any service which operates through a satellite system and is recognized by the Organisation, for use in the global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS).   

 

Nautical Charts or Publications:

        It is a special-purpose map or book, or a specially compiled database from which such a map or book is derived, that is issued officially by the authority of a Government or other relevant Government institution and is designed to meet the requirements of marine navigation.    

 

Search and Rescue Services:

        The performance of distress monitoring, communication, coordination and search and rescue functions, including the provision of medical advice, initial medical assistance, or medical assistance, or medical evacuation, through the use of public and private recourses including cooperating aircraft, ships, vessels and other crafts and installations. 

 

High-speed Crafts:

        The high-speed craft is a craft capable of maximum speed, in meters per second (m/s), equal to or exceeding:

   

where:

         - Volume of displacement corresponding to the design waterline (m3)

        Excluding craft the hull of which is supported completely clear above the water surface in non-displacement mode by aerodynamics force generated by ground effect.

 

Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit:

        It means a vessel capable of engaging in drilling operations for the exploration for or exploitation of resources beneath the sea-bed such as liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons, sulphur or salt.

 

Solid Bulk Cargo:

        Solid bulk cargo means any cargo, other than liquid cargo or gas, consisting of a combination of particles or granules or any larger pieces of material generally uniform in composition, which is loaded directly into the cargo spaces of a ship without any intermediate form of containment.

 

Ship/port Interface:

         It means the interactions that occur when a ship is directly and immediately affected by actions involving the movement of persons, goods or the provisions of port services to or from the ship.

 

Security Incident:

        It means any suspicious act or circumstance threatening the security of the ship, including mobile offshore drilling unit and High-speed crafts, or f a port facility or of any ship/port interface or any ship-to-ship activity.

 

Security level:

        It means the qualification of the degree of risk that a security incident will be attempted or will occur.

 

Declaration of Security:

        It means an agreement reached between a ship and either a port facility or another ship with which it interfaces, specifying the security measures each will implement.

 

Bulk Carrier:

        It means a ship that is intended primarily to carry dry cargo in bulk, including such types of ore carriers and combination carriers.

 

Standard Fire test:

        It means a test in which specimens are exposed in a test furnace to temperatures corresponding approximately to the standard time-temperature curve.

 

Standard Time-Temperature Curve:

        It is defined by a formula:-

        

Where:

       T is the average furnace temperature (degree Celcius)

        t is the time (min).

         

Safety Management System:

        It means a structured and documented system enabling Company personnel to implement effectively the Company safety and environmental protection policy.

 

Observation:

        It means a statement of fact made during a safety management audit and substantiated by objective evidence.

 

Non-conformity:

        Non-conformity means an observed situation where the objective evidence indicates the non-fulfilment of a specified requirement.

 

Major non-conformity:

        It means an identifiable deviation that poses a serious threat to the safety of personnel or the ship or a serious risk to the environment that requires immediate corrective action or the lack of effective and systematic implementation of a requirement of this code.

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Reference: IMO Publications & Documents - International Conventions - SOLAS 

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