International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)

SOLAS Conventions

This is one of the oldest conventions and the first convention was adopted at a conference held in London in 1914. Since then there have been 4 other SOLAS conventions. Second convention was adopted in 1929 and entered into force in 1933. Third convention was adopted in 1948 and entered into force in 1952. Forth convention was adopted (under the auspicious of IMO) in 1960 and entered into force in 1965. The present convention was adopted in 1974 and entered into force in 1980. The SOLAS conventions have all covered many aspects of safety at sea. The 1914 Convention was, as the title implies, concerned primarily of safety of human life, as this was considered as the golden age of passenger travel by sea. Emigration from Europe to different parts of America was taking in

massive scale passenger ships were much common than that they are today and accidents frequently lead to heavy casualities. The annual loss of life from British ships alone averaged between 700 and 800 during this period. The incident which led to the convening of the 1914 international conference was the sinking of the White Star liner Titanic on her maiden voyage in April 1912, killing more than 1500 passengers and crew. This raised many questions about current standards that the United Kingdom Government proposed holding a conference to develop international regulations. The conference was attended by 13 countries and the SOLAS Convention which resulted was adopted on 20th January 1914. It introduced new international requirements dealing with safety of navigation for all merchant ships, provisions of water tight and fire resistant bulkheads, life saving appliances, fire fighting and fire prevention appliances on all passenger ships. The convention was to enter into force in July 1915, but by then war broke out in Europe.

Many individual nations adopted the provisions of the first convention. In 1927 proposals were made for another convention and this time 18 countries attended the conference, which was held in London in1929. The conference adopted 1914 convention in full with several new regulations and entered into force in 1933. The 3rd conference was adopted in 1948 and entered into force in1952. The 4th was adopted in 1960 and entered into force in1965. The present conference which is the 5th , was adopted in 1974 and entered into force on 25th May 1980. The development of the 1960 conference was the first major task for IMO after its creation and it represented a considerable step forward in modernizing and in keeping pace with technical developments in the shipping industry. It was indented to keep convention in pace with periodic amendments but the procedure in practice proved to be very slow as the procedure in place for acceptance was explicit system of acceptance.

By this system every amendment had to be positively accepted by the agreed majority before it was adopted or came into force. Since most countries kept quiet about the matters, the required majority was never reached. As a result a complete new convention was adopted in 1974 which included not only the amendments agreed up until that date but a new amendment procedure known as tacit acceptance procedure. This procedure was designed to ensure that changes could be made within a specific period of time. By this procedure, it was decided that unless a majority states objected before a cutoff date, the amendments would be taken for granted to be accepted. As usual majority of countries kept quiet and the amendments were passed. The main objective SOLAS is to specify minimum standards for the construction , equipment, and operation of ships, compatible with their safety. The flag state administrations are responsible to see that their flag ships comply with SOLAS requirements.

A number of certificates are prescribed in the convention which are to be issued to the ship by the administration or organization or organizations authorized by it as proof that the vessel complies with SOLAS requirements. Port state control provisions allow contracting governments to inspect ship of other contracting countries and if there are clear grounds for believing that the ship and its equipments do not substantially comply with the requirements of SOLAS the ship may be held up. The SOLAS initially had 8 chapters but with the amendment with two protocols and other amendments presently it is having 12 chapters.

Chapter-1

General provisions-definitions

Chapter-2-1 Chapter-2-2 Chapter-3 Chapter-4 Chapter-5 Chapter-6 Chapter-7

Chapter-8 Chapter-9 Chapter-10 Chapter-11-1 Chapter-11-2 Chapter-12

Construction structure,sub division and stability Construction-fire protection ,fire detection and extinction Life saving appliances and arranegments Radio communications Safety of navigation Carriage of cargoes Carriage of dangerous goods
Nuclear ships Management for safe operation of ships (ISM) Safety measures for high speed crafts Special measures to enhance maritime safety. Ship identification number, psc, csr etc. ISPS Additional special measure for bulk carrier safety