The purpose of this Guide is to provide guidance for dealing with fires
and spillages (leakages) on board ships involving the dangerous goods listed in the
International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code).
In accordance with the International Safety Management Code (ISM
Code), all ships, and the companies responsible for their operation, are
required to maintain a safety management system (SMS). Within the SMS, procedures
for responding to potential shipboard emergencies are required. This Guide is
intended to assist shipowners, ship operators and other parties concerned with
developing such emergency response procedures, which should be integrated into the
ship’s contingency plan.
In November 1997, the IMO Assembly adopted resolution A.852(20) on Guidelines for a structure of an integrated
system of contingency planning for shipboard emergencies, which were further
revised by resolution A.1072(28) in December 2013 and amended by its
Corr.1 in May 2014. This Guide should be integrated into Module IV on Response
actions, as contained in paragraph 3.2.4.6 of the latter resolution, for
cargo-related incidents.
In the event of a fire or spillage incident, initial actions should be
carried out in accordance with the shipboard emergency plan. Where dangerous goods
are involved, the responses in the emergency plan should be based on this Guide for
specific dangerous goods having regard to, inter alia, the type of ship, the
quantity and type of packaging of the dangerous goods and whether the goods are
stowed on or under deck.