These Guidelines, prepared by the Maritime Safety Committee
and the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International
Maritime Organization, contain guidance to assist in the preparation
of an integrated system of contingency planning for shipboard emergencies.
It is intended to be used for the preparation and use of a module
structure of an integrated system of shipboard emergency plans.
The high number of non-harmonized shipboard contingency
plans justifies the development of an integrated system and the harmonization
of the structure of contingency plans.
To implement the SOLAS and MARPOL regulations, there must be shipboard procedures
and instructions. These Revised Guidelines provide a framework for
formulating procedures for the effective response to emergency situations
identified by the company and shipboard personnel.
In this context, the main objectives of these Revised Guidelines
are:
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.1 to assist companies in translating the requirements
of the regulations into action by making use of the structure of the
integrated system;
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.2 to integrate relevant shipboard emergency situations
into such a system;
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.3 to assist in the development of harmonized
contingency plans which will enhance their acceptance by shipboard
personnel and their proper use in an emergency situation; and
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.4 to encourage Governments, in the interests
of uniformity, to accept the structure of the integrated system as
being in conformity with the provisions for development of shipboard
contingency plans as required by various IMO instruments, and to refer
to these Revised Guidelines when preparing appropriate national legislation.