RESOLUTION MSC.385(94)

(adopted on 21 November 2014)

INTERNATIONAL CODE FOR SHIPS OPERATING IN POLAR WATERS (POLAR CODE)

THE MARITIME SAFETY COMMITTEE,

RECALLING article 28(b) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the function of the Committee,

RECOGNIZING the need to provide a mandatory framework for ships operating in polar waters due to the additional demands on ships, their systems and operation, which go beyond the existing requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as amended ("the Convention"), and other relevant binding IMO instruments,

NOTING resolution MSC.386(94), by which it adopted, inter alia, the new chapter XIV of the Convention,

NOTING ALSO that the Marine Environment Protection Committee, at its sixty-seventh session, approved with a view to adoption, at its sixty-eighth session, the Introduction, as it relates to environmental protection, and parts II-A and II-B of the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code), and also considered for adoption relevant amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the 1978 Protocol,

HAVING CONSIDERED, at its ninety-fourth session, the draft International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters,

1          ADOPTS the safety-related provisions of the Introduction, and the whole of parts I-A and I-B of the Polar Code, the text of which is set out in the annex to the present resolution;

2          AGREES that amendments to the Introduction of the Polar Code that address both safety and environmental protection shall be adopted in consultation with the Marine Environment Protection Committee;

3          INVITES Contracting Governments to the Convention to note that the Polar Code will take effect on 1 January 2017 upon entry into force of the new chapter XIV of the Convention;

4          INVITES ALSO Contracting Governments to consider the voluntary application of the Polar Code, as far as practicable, also to ships not covered by the Polar Code and operating in polar waters.

5          REQUESTS the Secretary-General of the Organization, for the purposes of article VIII(b)(v) of the Convention, to transmit certified copies of the present resolution and the text of the Polar Code, contained in the annex, to all Contracting Governments to the Convention;

6          REQUESTS ALSO the Secretary-General of the Organization to transmit copies of the present resolution and the text of the Code contained in the annex to all Members of the Organization which are not Contracting Governments to the SOLAS Convention;

7          REQUESTS FURTHER the Secretary-General to prepare a consolidated text of the Polar Code upon adoption of the environmental protection related provisions by the Marine Environment Protection Committee.

ANNEX

INTERNATIONAL CODE FOR SHIPS OPERATING IN POLAR WATERS (POLAR CODE)

PREAMBLE

1          The International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters has been developed to supplement existing IMO instruments in order to increase the safety of ships' operation and mitigate the impact on the people and environment in the remote, vulnerable and potentially harsh polar waters.

2          The Code acknowledges that polar water operation may impose additional demands on ships, their systems and operation beyond the existing requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the 1978 Protocol relating thereto (MARPOL), as amended, and other relevant binding IMO instruments.

3          The Code acknowledges that the polar waters impose additional navigational demands beyond those normally encountered. In many areas, the chart coverage may not currently be adequate for coastal navigation. It is recognized even existing charts may be subject to unsurveyed and uncharted shoals.

4          The Code also acknowledges that coastal communities in the Arctic could be, and that polar ecosystems are, vulnerable to human activities, such as ship operation.

5          The relationship between the additional safety measures and the protection of the environment is acknowledged as any safety measure taken to reduce the probability of an accident, will largely benefit the environment.

6          While Arctic and Antarctic waters have similarities, there are also significant differences. Hence, although the Code is intended to apply as a whole to both Arctic and Antarctic, the legal and geographical differences between the two areas have been taken into account.

7          The key principles for developing the Polar Code have been to use a risk-based approach in determining scope and to adopt a holistic approach in reducing identified risks.

INTRODUCTION

1          Goal