Briefings of IMO Meeting. Briefings of IMO Meeting are sequentially released by 3 steps as Flash - Highlight - Final.

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1 Subject : News Highlight of MSC 94 The Maritime Safety Committee (hereinafter MSC ) held its ninety fourth (94 th ) session at IMO HQ from 17 to 21 November In this regard, please be informed of the highlight issues of MSC 94 as below. The amendments to conventions and codes adopted at MSC 94 will enter into force 1 July Amendments to SOLAS Convention 1) SOLAS regulation II-2/ Machinery spaces of category A containing internal combustion machinery At MSC 93 (May 2014), IACS submitted a document of MSC 93/17/1, seeking clarification on whether SOLAS chapter II-2 required additional fire-extinguishing arrangements (portable foam applicator unit, 45 liter foam-type fire extinguishers and portable foam extinguishers) to be provided in all machinery spaces with internal combustion machinery or solely in category A machinery spaces, and agreed to amend the title of SOLAS regulation II-2/ to specify its application to machinery spaces of category A only. Consequently, the heading of paragraph 5.2 of SOLAS regulation II-2/ /10 was changed as Machinery spaces of category A containing internal combustion machinery". 2) SOLAS regulation VI/2 Cargo Information Amendments to SOLAS regulation VI/2 related to mandatory verification of gross mass of a container by shipper before loading on to ship were adopted. Also, these amendments were accompanied by the guidelines regarding verified gross mass of a container carrying cargo, which was approved by MSC 93 and issued as MSC.1/Circ However, two NGOs (International Transport Workers' Federation and Nautical Institute) submitted a document of MSC 94/INF.9 containing information regarding ongoing concerns of seafarers on the subject of misdeclared mass of containers, particularly the enforcement and implementation of the amendments to SOLAS regulation VI/2 and the associated guidelines (MSC.1/Circ.1475). 1 / 8

2 3) SOLAS regulation XI-1/7 Atmosphere testing instruments for enclosed spaces A new SOLAS regulation XI-1/7 relating to the carriage requirements for portable atmosphere-testing instruments for enclosed spaces was adopted. Related guidelines to facilitate the selection of portable atmosphere-testing instruments for enclosed spaces were already approved at MSC 93 as MSC.1/Circ Also, MSC considered that the new amendments to SOLAS regulation III/19 on enclosed space entry and rescue drills with an entry-into-force date of 1 January 2015 had been adopted, and such enclosed space entry and rescue drill to include checking and use of instruments for measuring the atmosphere in enclosed spaces. MSC 93 recognized that paragraph of SOLAS regulation III/19 did not introduce carriage requirements for atmosphere-testing instruments for enclosed spaces and have noted that the entry-into-force date of the new SOLAS regulation XI-1/7 will be 1 July 2016, decide to prepare an MSC circular to encourage SOLAS Contracting Governments to implement new SOLAS regulation XI-1/7 early, in order to expedite the carriage of portable atmosphere-testing instruments for enclosed spaces. Consequently, MSC circular on early implementation of new regulation 7 of SOLASS chapter XI-1 on atmosphere-testing instruments for enclosed spaces was approved as MSC.1/Circ.1485 in conjunction with the adoption of this associated SOLAS amendments at this MSC 94. 4) Amendments to the appendix (Certificates) of the annex to SOLAS At MSC 93, Marshall Islands and IACS submitted a document of MSC 93/21/2 inviting to consider the inconsistencies in the Record of Equipment for Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate and Cargo Ship Safety Certificate concerning the lack of an entry for the total number of persons accommodated by free-fall lifeboats and agreed it was an unintended oversight. Consequently, amendments to section 2 of the Record of Equipment for the Cargo Ship Safety Certificate (Form C) and the Record of Equipment for the Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate (Form E) were adopted. Regarding the timing of replacement of existing certificates, relevant guidance was provided in MSC-MEPC..5/Circ Amendments to 2011 ESP Code Amendments to 2011 ESP Code were adopted which reflecting recent amendments to IACS UR Z10 series regarding the use of hydraulic arm vehicles (cherry pickers, lifts and movable platforms), rescue and emergency response equipment and the updating of the Ship Construction Files (SCF). In particular for oil tankers, the provisions allowing the undertaking of the hydrostatic tank test for cargo oil tanks by the crew, under the 2 / 8

3 direction of the master were included in this amendments, and MSC agreed to task the Secretariat to prepare a guidance on pressure testing of boundaries of cargo oil tanks under direction of the master for disseminating through an MSC circular. The draft circular would be submitted at next MSC 95 for approval. 3. Adoption of new SOLAS waters and Polar Code Chapter XIV Safety measures for ships operating in polar A new SOLAS chapter XIV was adopted to make the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code) mandatory. MSC agreed that the new SOLAS chapter XIV should be deemed to have been accepted on 1 July 2016 and to enter into force on 1 January 2017, considering the adoption of amendments to MARPOL Annexes and part II of Polar Code at next MEPC 68. In regard to matters related to operational limitations, following an in-depth discussion the Committee established the Correspondence Group on Operational Limitations in Ice and instructed it to:.1 prepare draft guidance on a methodology for determining limitations for operation in ice, and the associated draft MSC circular, for structural risk assessment and inclusion in the ship' 's documentation;.2 exchange information on experience with operations in ice for the purpose of validating guidance for operation in ice; and.3 submit a report to MSC 95, Regarding certification matters, MSC agreed that survey may not necessarily be performed on board, where no additional equipment or structural modification is required to comply with the Code. Subsequently, the working group prepared a text for inclusion in section 1.3 (Certificate and survey) of the Code, for category C cargo ships, where no additional equipment or structural modification is required to comply with the Code. It states that "the Polar Ship Certificate may be issued based upon documented verification that the ship complies with all relevant requirements of the Polar Code. In this case, for continued validity of the certificate, an on board survey should be undertaken at the next scheduled survey". It was also agreed that there will be no separate Polar Code survey, but the scope of the existing SOLAS related survey will cover the arrangements and equipment provided to meet the Polar Code requirements. In connection with the above, the group agreed that the survey should be harmonized with the survey for SOLAS certificates and invited 3 / 8

4 the Committee to instruct the III Sub-Committee to consider this matter in its next review of the HSSC Guidelines, prior to the entry into force of the new SOLAS chapter XIV. 4. Unified interpretations of SOLAS regulation V/ (MSC.1/Circ.1495) According to the results of discussion made at NAV 59(2013) and NCSR 1(2014), a revised unified interpretation submitted by IACS (NCSR 1/24) was approved as MSC.1/Circ.1495 at this MSC 94. In figure 1 below, the representation on the left shows a ship being considered under all conditions of loading and the height from the point of egress to the waterline is no more than 9 metres. The representation on the right is for the same ship but now considering an adverse list of 15. The height now exceeds 9 metres but only as a result of considering this angle of list. The question is can a pilot ladder only be provided on such a ship; or must a combination pilot/accommodation ladder arrangement be provided? NAV 59 concluded that such a ship must be fitted with a combination arrangement. Fig.1 Having reviewed the principal particulars of a number of designs of bulk carriers, oil tankers, containerships and LPG carriers; IACS notes that having considered all anticipated conditions of loading a 25 metre beam ship operating with a maximum operational freeboard of 6.0 metres (i.e. 2/3 of the 9 metre maximumm length for a pilot ladder), must be fitted with a combination arrangement, on the basis of the following approximation: [6.0] + [Tan 15 * 12.5] = 9.35 metres i.e. greater than 9 metres 4 / 8

5 Indeed, IACS estimates that a significant number of ships that are built in the future will no longer be allowed to be fitted with only pilot ladders to achieve compliance; but will require combination arrangements purely on the basis of the consideration of the "emergency" 15 adverse list. According to the interpretation No.2 of the circular, SOLAS regulation V/ and Section 3 of resolution A.1045(27) applies to a combined arrangement of "an accommodation ladder used in conjunction with the pilot ladder" for "Safe and convenient access to, and egress from, the ship" for which a 15 list requirement does not apply. Therefore, the length of accommodation ladder of a combined arrangement need not be lengthened. (For further details, please refer to the documents of NAV 59/16/1, NAV 59/20, NCSR 1/24, NCSR 1/24/2, NCSR 1/28, MSC 94/9/1, MSC 94/9/5 and MSC 94/21) 5. Unified Interpretations on the Appendix to the SOLAS Convention regarding the records of equipment concerning nautical charts and ECDIS, Completion of items 2.1 and 2.2 of Part 3 of the Form E and items 2.1 and 2.2 of Part 5 of Forms P and C (MSC.1/Circ.1496) This unified interpretationn provides a common approach on how to complete items 2.1 and 2.2 of part 3 of the form E and items 2.1 and 2.2 of part 5 of forms P and C. During the ensuing discussions, the following views were expressed:.1 SOLAS did not mandate that ECDIS should always be the primary means of navigation, this can also be nautical charts;.2 SOLAS mandated the carriage of ECDIS but not its use;.3 paper charts did not require a backup, so a third scenario could be added; and.4 taking into account the definition of "nautical charts" provided in regulation V/2.2, which indicated that a nautical chart could be an electronic chart or a paper chart, the term "standard navigational chart" should be used instead. Interpretation Items 2.1 and 2.2 of Part 3 of the Form E and items 2.1 and 2.2 of Part 5 of Forms P and C shall be completed according to the following scenarios: 5 / 8

6 1) Nautical Charts only Item 2.1 Nautical charts / Electronicc chart display and information system (ECDIS) 2.2 Back-up arrangements for ECDIS Actual provision "Provided" " - " 2) Two ECDIS only (no nautical charts) Item 2.1 Nautical charts / Electronicc chart display and information system (ECDIS) 2.2 Back-up arrangements for ECDIS Actual provision "Provided" "ECDIS" 3) ECDIS + Nautical Charts Item 2.1 Nautical charts / Electronicc chart display and information system (ECDIS) 2.2 Back-up arrangements for ECDIS * Enter as appropriate Or Actual provision "Both provided" "ECDIS" or Nautical Charts * Item Actual provision 2.1 Nautical charts / Electronicc chart display and information system "Provided" (ECDIS) 2.2 Back-up arrangements for ECDIS Nautical Charts 6. Approval of draft IGF Code and related SOLAS amendments MSC approved the draft amendments to SOLAS chapters II-1 and II-2 and the appendix to make the IGF Code mandatory and also approved the draft amendments to the Protocols of 1978 and relating to SOLAS 1974, with regard to forms of certificates, in relation to the IGF Code, for the adoption at MSC 95. Regarding draft IGF Code, a large number of commenting documents were submitted at this session. The main decisions and changes made to the draft IGF Code at this session 6 / 8

7 are as follows; 1) Definition of stress categories In considering the definition of stress categories in the draft IGF Code, taking into account document MSC 94/11/16 (Japan), the Working Group agreed to the proposed amendments to paragraphs and , and to the inclusion of a new paragraph containing the definitions of stress categories, taken from the paragraph of the revised IGC Code (resolution MSC.370(93)). 2) Mandatory risk assessment In considering the requirements for a risk assessment and document MSC 94/11/6 (CESA), some participants expressed the view that a risk assessment is not required for ships designed and constructed according to prescriptive provisions of part A-1 of the draft Code, unless a risk assessment is specifically stipulated in a prescriptive provision. Conversely, other participants expressed the view thatt a risk assessment should be carried out for all new vessels. Such a risk assessment would be more limited in scope for ships complying with part A-1 but would include operational and other considerations that are not specifically identified in part A-1. The group did not amend section 4.2 of the draft Code. However, the group recognized that interested Member States and international organizations could submit specific proposals to the Committee for clarification of the intended scope and methodology of risk assessments under the IGF Code. 3) Tank length limitation and threshold value of fcn In considering the threshold values for the factor fcn, the group was unable to reach a consensus, but the majority of participants expressed a preferencee for the values of 0.02 for passenger shipss and 0.04 for cargo ships. Some participants expressed concern at the lack of detailed consideration afforded to the issue of protective tank location requirements at this session and at the approach taken by the group to simply choose between the fcn values in square brackets without in-depth discussion. Having noted the lack of consensus and the concerns expressed above, the group settled on fcn = 0.02 for passenger ships and fcn = 0.04 for cargo ships, as supported by the majority of the participants who spoke. The paragraph , regarding tank length limitation, was deleted and subsequent paragraphs were re-numbered. 7 / 8

8 4) Distance of fuel pipes Following discussion, the Working Group agreed on the value of 800 mm for the distance of fuel pipes from the ship's side in paragraph (For further details for the draft IGF Code, please refer to the document of MSC 95/3/4 which is the report of the Working Group at MSC 94.) <End> P.I.C : Lee Jung-kun / Principal surveyor Convention & Legislation Service Team Tel: Fax: convention@krs.co.kr General Manager of Convention & Legislation Service Team Disclaimer Although all possible efforts have been made to ensure correctness and completeness of the contents contained in this information service, the of Shipping is not responsible for any errors or omissions made herein, nor held liable for any actions taken by any party as a result of information retrieved from this information service. 8 / 8