Circular Letter
MSC/Circ.1094

APPLICATION OF SOLAS REGULATION III/26 CONCERNING FAST RESCUE BOAT SYSTEMS ON RO-RO PASSENGER SHIPS

(adopted on 5 June)

1. The Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventy-fourth session (30 May to 8 June 2001), noted that SOLAS regulation III/26, as amended by resolution MSC.47(66), which entered into force on 1 July 1998, requires all ro-ro passenger ships to be fitted with a fast rescue boat (FRB) and a means of rescue not later than the first periodical survey after 1 July 2000.

2. The Committee had been informed of many accidents and near-accidents as a result of trials and drills involving the launching and recovery of fast rescue boats that had been fitted to date onboard ro-ro passenger ships. Concerns have also been expressed that some masters of these ships and the crews involved in the launching and operation of fast rescue boats do not have confidence in this equipment, especially regarding its use in emergency conditions when the weather and sea state may be unfavourable.

3. The Committee, recognising the importance of this issue, instructed its Sub-Committees on Ship Design and Equipment (DE) and on Standards of Training and Watchkeeping (STW) to review the arrangement, specification, testing and operation of fast rescue boats and means of rescue, and the training of the relevant crew members, respectively, as a matter of urgency.

4. The Committee noted that an effective study of FRB installation and operation would of necessity take at least two years to complete, and that the final form of the revised requirements and recommendations could not be anticipated at that time. Therefore, MSC/Circ.1016 was issued to inform interested parties about the IMO review.

5. Since then, further research has been undertaken and operators of ships have been consulted. Where masters and crews have gained experience and confidence in the use of FRBs, the following salient points have been identified as contributing to successful operation:

.1 all parts of the stowage, launch and recovery system are proven to be compatible well before installation, preferably at the design stage, and are supplied and supported by a single source;