RECALLING Article 28(b) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Committee,
RECALLING FURTHER resolution A.373(X) by which the Assembly,
when adopting on 14 November 1977 the Code of Safety for Dynamically
Supported Craft (DSC Code) for craft such as hydrofoil boats and air-cushion
vehicles which were increasingly being introduced in international
transport, authorized the Maritime Safety Committee to amend the DSC
Code as may be necessary,
RECOGNIZING the continual development of novel types and
sizes of high speed craft, which are not necessarily dynamically supported,
cargo craft, passenger craft carrying larger numbers of passengers
or operating at greater distances from places of refuge than permitted
by the DSC Code,
RECOGNIZING FURTHER that improvements of maritime safety
standards since the adoption of the DSC Code are required to be reflected
in the provisions for the design, construction, equipment and operation
of high speed craft in order to maintain certification and safety
equivalence with conventional ships,
NOTING that the SOLAS Conference to be held from 17 to
24 May 1994 will be invited to adopt amendments to the 1974 SOLAS
Convention which, inter alia, include a new chapter
X on Safety measures for high speed craft, to make the provisions
of the International Code of Safety for High Speed Craft (HSC Code)
mandatory under that Convention for all such craft constructed on
or after 1 January 1996,
HAVING CONSIDERED at its sixty-third session the text of
the proposed HSC Code which has been developed following a thorough
revision of the DSC Code,
1. ADOPTS the HSC Code, the text of which is set
out in the Annex to the present resolution;
2. NOTES that under the proposed chapter X of the 1974 SOLAS Convention, amendments
to the HSC Code shall be adopted, brought into force and shall take
effect in accordance with the provisions of article VIII of that Convention
other than chapter I;
3. REQUESTS the Secretary-General to transmit
a copy of the present resolution together with the text of the HSC
Code to all Members of the Organization and to all Contracting Governments
to the 1974 SOLAS Convention which are not Members of the Organization;
4. RECOMMENDS Governments to apply the Code on
a voluntary basis in respect of craft constructed between the adoption
of this resolution and the entry into force of the amendments to the
1974 SOLAS Convention referred to above as may be adopted by the 1994
SOLAS Conference.