1 The Maritime Safety Committee, at its sixty-third
session (16-25 May 1994), noted that the Sub-Committee on Stability
and Load Lines and on Fishing Vessels Safety (SLF), in
considering a definition of the term “modification of a major
character” in the context of chapter
II-1 of the 1974 SOLAS Convention, had decided that it should
be sufficient to relate the modification, whatever its nature and
extent, to its effect on the level of subdivision of the ship. The
Committee, therefore, agreed to the following interpretation of alterations
and modifications of a major character proposed by the SLF Sub-Committee:
“Where an existing cargo ship is subject to any modification
which affects the level of subdivision of that ship, it should
be demonstrated that the A/R ratio calculated for the ship after
such modifications is not less than the A/R ratio calculated for the
ship before the modification. However, in those cases where the
ship's A/R ratio before modification is equal to or greater than
unity, it is only necessary to demonstrate that the ship after such
modification has an 'A' value which is not less than 'R', calculated
for the modified ship.”
2 The Maritime Safety Committee, at its
eighty-third session (3-12 October 2007), considered a definition
of the term “existing cargo ship” in the context of the
above interpretation and, following a proposal by the SLF Sub-Committee
at its fiftieth session, agreed that, in the context of this
circular, an existing cargo ship means:
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.1 a cargo ship constructed before 1 February
1992, regardless of length; and
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.2 a cargo ship constructed before 1 July 1998,
below or equal to 100 m in length.
3 Notwithstanding the above, a cargo ship should
not be considered an existing cargo ship if it was:
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.1 constructed between 1 February 1992 and
30 June 1998, and lengthened from below to above 100 m; and
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.2 constructed on or after 1 July 1998.
4 Member Governments are invited to take
account of the above interpretation when applying the relevant
provisions of chapter II-1 of the
1974 SOLAS Convention.