INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON LOAD LINES, 1966, AS AMENDED BY THE 1988 PROTOCOL RELATING THERETO (LL 66/88)
(revised in 2003)

 

FINAL ACT
OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LOAD LINES, 1966

 

1. Recognizing that the establishment by international agreement of minimum freeboards for ships engaged on international voyage constitutes a most important contribution to the safety of life and property at sea, a Conference was held in London from 3 March to 5 April 1966, upon the invitation of the International Maritime Organization, for the purpose of drawing up an International Convention on Load Lines.

 

2. The Governments of the following States were represented by delegations at the Conference:

 

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* As from 26 December 1991 the membership of the USSR in the Convention is continued by the Russian Federation.

 

3. The Governments of the following States were represented at the Conference by observers:

 

 

4. The following inter-governmental organizations were represented at the Conference by observers:

 

United Nations.

 

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

 

5. The following international non-governmental organization was represented at the Conference by an observer:

 

International Chamber of Shipping

 

6. Sir Gilmour Jenkins (United Kingdom) was elected President of the Conference.

 

7. Admiral E.J.Roland (United States of America), Mr. A.S.Kolesnitchenko (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), Mr. A.Uyama (Japan) and Mr. D.H.G.Marco (Argentina) were elected Vice-Presidents of the Conference.

 

8. The Secretary-General of the Conference was Mr. Jean Roullier (Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization); the Deputy Secretary-General of the Conference was Mr. E.C.V.Goad (Deputy Secretary-General of the Organization); and the Executive Secretary of the Conference was Mr. V.Nadeinski (Head of Ship Construction Section of the Secretariat of the Organization).

 

9. The Conference established five Committees for the accomplishment of its work:

 

General Committee

 

Chairman: Dr. Nagendra Singh (India)

Vice-Chairman: Mr. M.Fila (Poland)

 

Technical Committee

 

Chairman: Professor C.W.Prohaska (Denmark)

Vice-Chairmen: Mr. L.Spinelli (Italy)

Mr. D.R.Murray Smith (United Kingdom)

 

Committee on Zones

 

Chairman: Mr. J.Queguiner (France)

Vice-Chairman: Captain H.Ruegg (New Zealand)

 

Drafting Committee

 

Chairman: Mr. R.W.Bullmore United Kingdom)

Vice-Chairman: Mr. M.Altman (Czechoslovakia)

 

Credentials Committee

 

Chairman: Commander R. Pinto (Peru)

 

10. The documentation of the Conference, used as a basis for its discussions, included two draft texts of an International Convention on Load Lines, and its Annexes, submitted by the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, together with proposals of many Governments for the revision of those texts.

 

11. As a result of its deliberations, as recorded in the records and reports of the Committees and in the records of the Plenary Sessions, the Conference prepared and opened for signature and accession the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966.

 

12. The Conference adopted five Recommendations arising from its deliberations.

 

13. The text of this Final Act, being in a single original in the English, French, Russian and Spanish languages, together with the attached texts of the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966, and of the Recommendations of the Conference, which are in the English and French languages, shall be deposited with the International Maritime Organization. Official translations of the attached Convention and Recommendations shall be prepared in the Russian and Spanish languages and shall be deposited together with this Final Act. The Secretary-General of the Organization shall send a certified copy of this Final Act and, when they have been prepared, certified copies of the official translations of the Convention and the Recommendations, to each of the Governments invited to be represented at this Conference.

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have affixed their signatures to this Final Act.

 

DONE AT LONDON this fifth day of April one thousand nine hundred and sixty-six.

 

President Gilmour Jenkins

 

Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization

Jean Roullier

 

Deputy Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization

E.C.V.Goad

 

Executive Secretary of the Conference

V.Nadeinski

 

FINAL ACT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM OF SURVEY AND CERTIFICATION, 1988

 

1. Pursuant to the decision of the Assembly of the International Maritime Organization at its fifteenth session and the Maritime Safety Committee at its fifty-fifth session, the Organization convened an International Conference on the Harmonized System of Survey and Certification. The purpose of the Conference was to consider and adopt a Protocol of 1988 relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 and a Protocol of 1988 relating to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 to introduce the harmonized system of survey and certification and other matters.

 

2. The Conference was held at the Headquarters of the International Maritime Organization in London from 31 October to 11 November 1988.

 

3. Representatives of 72 States participated in the Conference, namely the representatives of:

 

 

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* As from 26 December 1991 the membership of the USSR in the Convention is continued by the Russian Federation.

 

4. The following States sent observers to the Conference:

 

Iran (Islamic Republic of);

 

Saudi Arabia;

 

Senegal.

 

5. Hong Kong, an Associate Member of the Organization, sent an observer to the Conference.

 

6. The following organizations of the United Nations System sent representatives to the Conference:

 

International Telecommunication Union (ITU);

 

World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

 

7. The following intergovernmental organizations sent observers to the Conference:

 

International Hydrographic Organization (IHO);

 

International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPC).

 

8. The following non-governmental organizations also sent observers to the Conference

 

International Chamber of Shipping (ICS);

 

International Shipping Federation Limited (ISF);

 

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU);

 

International Radio-Maritime Committee (CIRM);

 

International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH);

 

International Association of Classification Societies (IACS);

 

Latin American Shipowners' Association (LASA);

 

Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF);

 

International Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN);

 

International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO);

 

9. The Conference was opened by Mr. C.P.Srivastava, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization.

 

10. The Conference elected Captain Saced Abdulla Hussain Yafai, Head of the delegation of Democratic Yemen, as President of the Conference.

 

11. The Vice-Presidents of the Conference were elected, as follows:

 

Ministro L.Baqueriza (Argentina);

 

Captain A.Kaloudis (Greece);

 

Mr. S.D.Batra (India);

 

Mr. K.Toda (Japan);

 

Captain B.A.Anyaeji (Nigeria).

 

12. The Secretariat of the Conference consisted of the following officers:

 

 

13. The Conference established the following Committees with officers as indicated:

 

Committee of the Whole

 

Chairman: Mr. K. van der Poel (Netherlands)

Vice-Chairman: Captain Shi Zhuanghuai (China) Mr. H.Pinon (France)

 

Drafting Committee

 

Chairman: Mr. J.J.Hole (United Kingdom)

Vice-Chairman: Mr. B.E.Stenmark (Sweden)

 

Credentials Committee

 

Chairman: Mr. H. van Loocke (Belgium)

 

14. The Conference used as the basis of its work the following documentation prepared by the Maritime' Safety Committee of the Organization:

 

- a draft text of the Protocol of 1988 relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974;

 

- a draft text of the Protocol of 1988 relating to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966;

 

- a draft resolution on records of equipment to supplement to the Passenger Ship Safety Certificate,

 

- Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate,

 

- Cargo Ship Safety Radio Certificate and

 

- Cargo Ship Safety Certificate;

 

- draft resolutions on the recognition of certificates.

 

15. The Conference also considered proposals and comments on the above-mentioned documents submitted to the Conference by Governments and interested organizations.

 

16. As a result of its deliberations, which are recorded in the summary records of the plenary meetings, the following instruments were adopted by the Conference:

 

a) Protocol of 1988 Relating to the International Conventions for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974

 

b) Protocol of 1988 Relating to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966.

 

17. The Conference also adopted the resolutions (resolutions 1 to 5) set forth in the Attachment to this Final Act.

 

18. The text of this Final Act, including its Attachment, is established in a single original in the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish languages. The original text is to be deposited with the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization.

 

19. The Conference requested the Secretary-General to prepare in due course the official translations in Arabic and Chinese of the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966.

 

20. The Conference requested the Secretary-General to prepare a revised official translation in Spanish of the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 which, after consideration by the Governments concerned, shall replace the existing official translation in Spanish of the Convention.

 

21. The Secretary-General shall send certified copies of this Final Act and the resolutions of the Conference and certified copies of the authentic texts of the Protocols referred to in paragraph 16 above, to the Governments of States invited to be represented at the Conference, in accordance with the wishes of those Governments.

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have affixed their signatures to this Final Act.

 

DONE AT LONDON this eleventh day of November one thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight.

 

ARTICLES OF PROTOCOL OF 1988 RELATING TO THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON LOAD LINES, 1966

 

THE PARTIES TO THE PRESENT PROTOCOL,

 

BEING PARTIES to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966, done at London on 5 April 1966,

 

RECOGNIZING the significant contribution which is made by the above-mentioned Convention to the promotion of the safety of ships and property at sea and the lives of persons on board,

 

RECOGNIZING ALSO the need to improve further the technical provisions of the above-mentioned Convention,

 

RECOGNIZING FURTHER the need for the introduction into the above-mentioned Convention of provisions for survey and certification harmonized with corresponding provisions in other international instruments,

 

CONSIDERING that these needs may best be met by the conclusion of a Protocol relating to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966,

 

HAVE AGREED as follows:

 

ARTICLE I.
General obligations

 

1. The Parties to the present Protocol undertake to give effect to the provisions of the present Protocol and the Annexes* hereto, which shall constitute an integral part of the present Protocol. Every reference to the present Protocol constitutes at the same time a reference to the Annexes hereto.

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* Provisions of the Annexes have been inserted into LL 66/88.

 

2. As between the Parties to the present Protocol, the provisions of the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 (hereinafter referred to as "the Convention"), except article 29, shall apply subject to the modifications and additions set out in the present Protocol.

 

3. With respect to ships entitled to fly the flag of a State which is not a Party to the Convention and the present Protocol, the Parties to the present Protocol shall apply the requirements of the Convention and the present Protocol as may be necessary to ensure that no more favorable treatment is given to such ships.

 

ARTICLE II.
Existing certificates

 

1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of the present Protocol, any International Load Line Certificate which is current when the present Protocol enters into force in respect of the Government of the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly shall remain valid until it expires.

 

2. A Party to the present Protocol shall not issue certificates under, and in accordance with, the provisions of the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966, as adopted on 5 April 1966.

 

ARTICLE III.
Communication of information

 

The Parties to the present Protocol undertake to communicate to, and deposit with, the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (hereinafter referred to as "the Organization"):