Maritime Safety Conventions: SOLAS, COLREG, STCW-F, SAR, SUA, Etc

Maritime Safety Conventions: SOLAS, COLREG, STCW-F, SAR, SUA, Etc

International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel (STCW-F), 1995 – 7/7/1995

The Convention is the first attempt to make standards of safety for crews of fishing vessels mandatory. The revised Document for Guidance on Training and Certification of Fishing Vessel Personnel produced jointly by IMO and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) takes into account the provisions of the STCW-F Convention.

International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, 1979 – 22/6/1985

The 1979 Convention, adopted at a Conference in Hamburg, was aimed at developing an international SAR plan, so that, no matter where an accident occurs, the rescue of persons in distress at sea will be co-ordinated by a SAR organization and, when necessary, by co-operation between neighbouring SAR organizations.

International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 – 28/4/1984

The 1978 STCW Convention was the first to establish basic requirements on training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers on an international level. Previously the standards of training, certification and watchkeeping of officers and ratings were established by individual governments, usually without reference to practices in other countries. As a result standards and procedures varied widely, even though shipping is the most international of all industries.

International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974 – 25/5/1980

The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships. The first version was adopted in 1914, in response to the Titanic disaster, the second in 1929, the third in 1948 and the fourth in 1960.

Convention on the International Maritime Satellite Organization, 1976 – 16/7/1979

IMO recognised the potential for satellite communications to assist in distress situations at sea soon after the launch of the world’s first telecommunications satellite, Telstar, in 1962.

International Convention for Safe Containers, 1972 (CSC) – 6/9/1977

In the 1960s, there was a rapid increase in the use of freight containers for the consignment of goods by sea and the development of specialized container ships. In 1967, IMO undertook to study the safety of containerization in marine transport. The container itself emerged as the most important aspect to be considered.

Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs) – 15/7/1977

The 1972 Convention was designed to update and replace the Collision Regulations of 1960 which were adopted at the same time as the 1960 SOLAS Convention.

The Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977 – 2/4/1977

The safety of fishing vessels had been a matter of concern to IMO since the Organization came into existence, but the great differences in design and operation between fishing vessels and other types of ships had always proved a major obstacle to their inclusion in the Conventions on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and Load Lines.

Special Trade Passenger Ships Agreement, 1971& Protocol on Space Requirements for Special Trade Passenger Ships, 1973 – 2/1/1974

The carriage of large numbers of unberthed passengers in special trades such as the pilgrim trade in a restricted sea area around the Indian Ocean is of particular interest to countries in that area. It was regulated by the Simla Rules of 1931, which became outdated following the adoption of the 1948 and 1960 SOLAS Conventions.

International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 – 21/7/1968

It has long been recognized that limitations on the draught to which a ship may be loaded make a significant contribution to her safety. These limits are given in the form of freeboards, which constitute, besides external weathertight and watertight integrity, the main objective of the Convention.

Source, copied from:

http://www.imo.org/Conventions/mainframe.asp?topic_id=257