RECALLING Article 28(b) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Committee,
RECALLING ALSO SOLAS chapter XII on
Additional safety measures for bulk carriers, which the 1997 SOLAS Conference adopted with the aim
of enhancing the safety of ships carrying solid bulk cargoes,
RECALLING FURTHER that, having recognized the need to further
improve the safety of bulk carriers in all aspects of their design,
construction, equipment and operation, it examined the results of
various formal safety assessment (FSA) studies on bulk carrier safety,
RECOGNIZING that banning of alternate hold loading of heavy
cargoes in full load condition for bulk carriers of single-side skin
construction not meeting appropriate side structural strength requirements
would contribute to improving the safety of these ships by reduction
of shear forces and bending moments,
NOTING resolution MSC.170(79) by
which it adopted, inter alia, the revised chapter XII
of the 1974 SOLAS Convention, in particular regulation XII/14 - Restrictions
from sailing with any hold empty, where reference is made to mandatory
standards and criteria which a bulk carrier has to comply with in
order to avoid the above-mentioned restrictions,
ACKNOWLEDGING that the International Association of Classification
Societies (IACS) has issued the following relevant Unified Requirements:
- S12 Rev.2.1 - Side structure in single side skin bulk carriers;
and
- S31 - Renewal criteria for side shell frames in single side skin
bulk carriers not built in accordance with UR S12 Rev.1 or subsequent
revisions,
CONSIDERING that the above IACS Unified Requirements embody
respectively the standards and criteria necessary to ascertain whether
regulation XII/14 of the Convention should apply to a particular bulk
carrier, and, therefore, should form the basis of the said standards
and criteria,
HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Sub-Committee
on Ship Design and Equipment at its forty-seventh session,
1. ADOPTS, for the purposes of the application
of regulation XII/14 of the Convention:
-
.1 the Standards for side structures in single-side
skin bulk carriers, set out in Annex
1 to the present resolution; and
-
.2 the Renewal criteria for side shell frames
and brackets in single-side skin bulk carriers not built in accordance
with the Standards for side structures in single-side skin bulk carriers,
set out in Annex 2 to the present
resolution;
2. INVITES Contracting Governments to the Convention
to note that the annexed Standards and Renewal criteria will take
effect on 1 July 2006 upon the entry into force of the revised chapter
XII of the Convention;
3. REQUESTS the Secretary-General to transmit
certified copies of this resolution and the text of the annexed Standards
and Renewal criteria to all Contracting Governments to the Convention;
4. FURTHER REQUESTS the Secretary-General to transmit
certified copies of this resolution and the text of the annexed Standards
and Renewal criteria to all Members of the Organization which are
not Contracting Governments to the Convention.