RESOLUTION MSC.386(94)
(adopted on 21 November 2014)
AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE SAFETY OF LIFE
AT SEA, 1974, AS AMENDED
THE MARITIME SAFETY COMMITTEE,
RECALLING Article 28(b) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Committee,
RECALLING ALSO article VIII(b) of the International Convention for
the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974 ("the Convention"),
concerning the amendment procedure applicable to the annex to the Convention,
other than to the provisions of chapter I,
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 Convention, and
other relevant binding IMO instruments,
NOTING resolution MSC.385(94), by which the Committee adopted
the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code) with
respect to its provisions for safety,
NOTING ALSO that the Marine Environment Protection Committee, at
its sixty-seventh session, approved with a view to adoption, at its
sixty-eighth session, amendments to the International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978,
and that it will also consider for adoption the environmental protection
provisions of the Polar Code,
NOTING FURTHER the proposed amendments to the Convention to make
use of the safety provisions of the Polar Code mandatory,
HAVING CONSIDERED, at its ninety-fourth session, amendments to the
Convention, proposed and circulated in accordance with article VIII(b)(i)
thereof,
1 ADOPTS, in
accordance with article VIII(b)(iv) of the Convention, amendments to the
Convention, the text of which is set out in the annex to the present
resolution;
2 DETERMINES, in
accordance with article VIII(b)(vi)(2)(bb) of the Convention, that the said
amendments shall be deemed to have been accepted on 1 July 2016, unless, prior
to that date, more than one third of the Contracting Governments to the
Convention or Contracting Governments the combined merchant fleets of which
constitute not less than 50% of the gross tonnage of the world's merchant
fleet, have notified to the
Secretary-General of the Organization their objections to the
amendments;
3 INVITES SOLAS
Contracting Governments to note that, in accordance with article
VIII(b)(vii)(2) of the Convention, the amendments shall enter into force on 1
January 2017 upon their acceptance in accordance with paragraph 2 above;
4 REQUESTS the
Secretary-General, for the purposes of article VIII(b)(v) of the Convention, to
transmit certified copies of the present resolution and the text of the
amendments contained in the annex to all Contracting Governments to the
Convention;
5 ALSO REQUESTS the
Secretary-General to transmit copies of this resolution and its annex to
Members of the Organization which are not Contracting Governments to the
Convention.
ANNEX
AMENDMENTS TO THE
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA, 1974, AS AMENDED
A new chapter XIV is added after chapter XIII, as follows:
"CHAPTER XIV
SAFETY MEASURES FOR SHIPS
OPERATING IN POLAR WATERS
Regulation 1 – Definitions
For the purpose of this chapter:
1 Polar Code
means the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, consisting of
an introduction and parts I-A and II-A and parts I-B and II-B, as adopted by
resolutions MSC.385(94)
and of the Marine Environment Protection Committee*, as may be amended,
provided that:
.1
amendments to the safety-related provisions of the introduction and part I-A of
the Polar Code are adopted, brought into force and take effect in accordance
with the provisions of article VIII of the present Convention concerning the
amendment procedures applicable to the annex other than chapter I; and
.2
amendments to part I-B of the Polar Code are adopted by the Maritime Safety
Committee in accordance with its Rules of Procedure.
__________________
* Refer to the resolution of adoption of the International Code
for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, by the Marine Environment Protection
Committee.
2 Antarctic area
means the sea area south of latitude 60o S.
3 Arctic waters
means those waters which are located north of a line from the latitude 58°00΄.0 N and
longitude 042°00΄.0 W to latitude 64°37΄.0 N, longitude 035°27΄.0 W and
thence by a rhumb line to latitude 67°03΄.9 N, longitude 026°33΄.4 W and
thence by a rhumb line to the latitude 70°49΄.56 N and
longitude 008°59΄.61 W (Sørkapp, Jan Mayen) and by the
southern shore of Jan Mayen to 73°31'.6 N and 019°01'.0 E by the Island of
Bjørnøya, and thence by a great circle line to the latitude 68°38΄.29 N and
longitude 043°23΄.08 E (Cap Kanin Nos) and hence by the northern shore of the Asian
Continent eastward to the Bering Strait and thence from the Bering Strait
westward to latitude 60° N as far as Il'pyrskiy and following the 60th North
parallel eastward as far as and including Etolin Strait and thence by the
northern shore of the North American continent as far south as latitude 60° N
and thence eastward along parallel of latitude 60° N, to longitude 056°37΄.1 W and
thence to the latitude 58°00΄.0 N, longitude 042°00΄.0 W.