RECALLING Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Assembly in
relation to regulations and guidelines concerning maritime safety
and the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships,
RECOGNIZING that the lack of adequate bridge visibility
may adversely affect the safety of the ship and the safety of other
ships and the marine environment,
CONSIDERING the need to ensure that the design of ships
provides at all times adequate visibility from the navigation bridge
for the purposes of safe navigation,
NOTING WITH CONCERN reports that some ships' navigation
bridges are being used for purposes other than navigation, communications
and other functions essential to the safe operation of the ship, its
engines and cargo,
HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime
Safety Committee at its fifty-ninth session,
1. URGES Governments to ensure that:
-
(a) the visibility from the navigation bridge
of ships conforms to the guidelines on navigation bridge visibility
set out in the annex to the present resolution;
-
(b) the ship's navigation bridge is not used for
purposes other than navigation, communications and other functions
essential to the safe operation of the ship, its engines and cargo;
2. INVITES the Maritime Safety Committee to consider
developing relevant provisions to ensure an adequate standard of visibility
from the ship's wheelhouse, by means of an appropriate amendment to
the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974.