INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA, 1974

 

With amendments

 

 

 

THE CONTRACTING GOVERNMENTS,

 

BEING DESIROUS of promoting safety of life at sea by establishing in common agreement uniform principles and rules directed thereto,

 

CONSIDERING that this end may best be achieved by the conclusion of a Convention to replace the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1960, taking account of developments since that Convention was concluded,

 

HAVE AGREED as follows:

 

 ARTICLE I
General obligations under the Convention

 

a) The Contracting Governments undertake to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention and the Annex thereto, which shall constitute an integral part of the present Convention. Every reference to the present Convention constitutes at the same time a reference to the Annex.

 

b) The Contracting Governments undertake to promulgate all laws, decrees, orders and regulations and to take all other steps which may be necessary to give the present Convention full and complete effect, so as to ensure that, from the point of view of safety of life, a ship is fit for the service for which it is intended.

 

 ARTICLE II
Application

 

The present Convention shall apply to ships entitled to fly the flag of States the Governments of which are Contracting Governments.

 

 ARTICLE III
Laws, regulations

 

The Contracting Governments undertake to communicate to and deposit with the Secretary-General of the Inter-Governmental Maritime consultative Organization* (hereinafter referred to as "the Organization"):

____________

* At present — the International Maritime Organization.

 

a) a list of non-governmental agencies which are authorized to act in their behalf in the administration of measures for safety of life at sea for circulation to the Contracting Governments for the information of their officers;

 

b) the text of laws, decrees, orders and regulations which shall have been promulgated on the various matters within the scope of the present Convention;

 

c) a sufficient number of specimens of their Certificates issued under the provisions of the present Convention for circulation to the Contracting Governments for the information of their officers.

 

 ARTICLE IV
Cases of force majeure

 

a) A ship, which is not subject to the provisions of the present Convention at the time of its departure on any voyage, shall not become subject to the provisions of the present Convention on account of any deviation from its intended voyage due to stress of weather or any other cause of force majeure.

 

b) Persons who are on board a ship by reason of force majeure or in consequence of the obligation laid upon the master to carry shipwrecked or other persons shall not be taken into account for the purpose of ascertaining the application to a ship of any provisions of the present Convention.

 

 ARTICLE V
Carriage of persons in emergency

 

a) For the purpose of evacuating persons in order to avoid a threat to the security of their lives a Contracting Government may permit the carriage of a larger number of persons in its ships than is otherwise permissible under the present Convention.

 

b) Such permission shall not deprive other Contracting Governments of any right of control under the present Convention over such ships which come within their ports.

 

c) Notice of any such permission, together with a statement of the circumstances, shall be sent to the Secretary-General of the Organization by the Contracting Government granting such permission.

 

 ARTICLE VI
Prior treaties and conventions

 

a) As between the Contracting Governments, the present Contention replaces and abrogates the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea which was signed in London on 17 June 1960.

 

b) All other treaties, conventions and arrangements relating to safety of life at sea, or matters appertaining thereto, at present in force between Governments parties to the present Convention shall continue to have full and complete effect during the terms thereof as regards:

 

i) ships to which the present Convention does not apply;

 

ii) ships to which the present Convention applies, in respect of matters for which it has not expressly provided.

 

c) To the extent, however, that such treaties, conventions or arrangements conflict with the provisions of the present Convention, the provisions of the present Convention shall prevail.

 

d) All matters which are not expressly provided for in the present Convention remain subject to the legislation of the Contracting Governments.

 

 ARTICLE VII
Special rules drawn up by agreement

 

When in accordance with the present Convention special rules are drawn up by agreement between all or some of the Contracting Governments, such rules shall be communicated to the Secretary-General of the Organization for circulation to all Contracting Governments.

 

 ARTICLE VIII
Amendments

 

a) The present Convention may be amended by either of the procedures specified in the following paragraphs.

 

b) Amendments after consideration within the Organization:

 

i) any amendment proposed by a Contracting Government shall be submitted to the Secretary-General of the Organization, who shall then circulate it to all Members of the Organization and all Contracting Governments at least six months prior to its consideration;

 

ii) any amendment proposed and circulated as above shall be referred to the Maritime Safety Committee of the Organization for consideration;

 

iii) contracting Governments of States, whether or not Members of the Organization, shall be entitled to participate in the proceedings of the Maritime Safety Committee for the consideration and adoption of amendments;

 

iv) amendments shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting Governments present and voting in the Maritime Safety Committee expanded as provided for in sub-paragraph (iii) of this paragraph (hereinafter referred to as "the expanded Maritime Safety Committee") on condition that at least one-third of the Contracting Governments shall be present at the time of voting;

 

v) amendments adopted in accordance with sub-paragraph (iv) of this paragraph shall be communicated by the Secretary-General of the Organization to all Contracting Governments for acceptance;

 

vi)

 

l) an amendment to an article of the Convention or to chapter I of the Annex shall be deemed to have been accepted on the date on which it is accepted by two-thirds of the Contracting Governments;

 

2) an amendment to the Annex other than chapter I shall be deemed to have been accepted:

 

aa) at the end of two years from the date on which it is communicated to Contracting Governments for acceptance;

 

or

 

bb) at the end of different period, which shall not be less than one year, if so determined at the time of its adoption by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting Governments present and voting in the expanded Maritime Safety Committee.

 

However, if within the specified period either more than one-third of Contracting Governments, or Contracting Governments the combined merchant fleets of which constitute not less than fifty per cent of the gross tonnage of the world's merchant fleet, notify the Secretary-General of the Organization that they object to the amendment, it shall be deemed not to have been accepted;

 

vii)

 

l) an amendment to an article of the Convention or to chapter I of the Annex shall enter into force with respect to those Contracting Governments which have accepted it, six months after the date on which it is deemed to have been accepted, and with respect to each Contracting Government which accepts it after that date, six months after the date of that Contracting Government's acceptance;

 

2) an amendment to the Annex other than chapter I shall enter into force with respect to all Contracting Governments, except those which have objected to the amendment under sub-paragraph (vi)(2) of this paragraph and which have not withdrawn such objections, six months after the date on which it is deemed to have been accepted. However, before the date set for entry into force, any Contracting Government may give notice to the Secretary-General of the Organization that it exempts itself from giving effect to that amendment for a period not longer that one year from the date of its entry into force, or for such longer period as may be determined by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting Governments present and voting in the expanded Maritime Safety Committee at the time of the adopted of the amendment.

 

c) Amendment by a Conference:

 

i) upon the request of a Contracting Government concurred in by at least on-third of the Contracting Government, the Organization shall convene a Conference of Contracting Governments to consider amendments to the present Convention;

 

ii) every amendment adopted by such a Conference by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting Governments present and voting shall be communicated by the Secretary-General of the Organization to all Contracting Governments for acceptance;

 

iii) unless the Conference decides otherwise, the amendment shall be deemed to have been accepted and shall enter into force in accordance with the procedures specified in sub-paragraphs (b)(vi) and (b)(vii) respectively of this article, provided that references in these paragraphs to the expanded Maritime Safety Committee shall be taken to mean references to the Conference;

 

d)

 

i) a Contracting Government which has accepted an amendment to the Annex which has entered into force shall not be obliged to extend the benefit of the present Convention in respect of the certificates issued to a ship entitled to fly the flag of a State the Government of which, pursuant to the provisions of sub-paragraph (b)(vi)(2) of this article, has objected to the amendment and has not withdrawn such an objection, but only to the extent that such certificates relate to matters covered by the amendment in question;

 

ii) a Contracting Government which has accepted an amendment to the Annex which has entered into force shall extend the benefit of the present Convention in respect of the certificates issued to a ship entitled to fly the flag of a State the Government of which, pursuant to the provisions of sub-paragraph (b)(vii)(2) of this article, has notified the Secretary-General of the Organization that it exempts itself from giving effect to the amendment.

 

e) Unless expressly provided otherwise, any amendment to the present Convention made under this article, which relates to the structure of a ship, shall apply only to ships the keels of which are laid or which are at a similar stage of construction, on or after the date on which the amendment enters into force.

 

f) Any declaration of acceptance of, or objection to, an amendment or any notice given under sub-paragraph (b)(vii)(2) of this article shall be submitted in writing to the Secretary-General of the Organization, who shall inform all Contracting Governments of any such submission and the date of its receipt.

 

g) The Secretary-General of the Organization shall inform all Contracting Governments of any amendments which enter into force under this article, together with the date on which each such amendment enters into force.

 

 ARTICLE IX
Signature, ratification, acceptance, approval and accession

 

a) The present Convention shall remain open for signature at the Head-quarters of the Organization from 1 November 1974 until 1 July 1975 and shall thereafter remain open for accession. States may become parties to the present Convention by:

 

i) signature without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval; or

 

ii) signature subject to ratification, acceptance or approval, followed by ratification, acceptance or approval; or

 

iii) accession.

 

b) Ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument to that effect with the Secretary-General of the Organization.

 

c) The Secretary-General of the Organization shall inform the Governments of all States which have signed the present Convention or acceded to it of any signature or of the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession and the date of its deposit.

 

 ARTICLE X