The Assembly
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Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Resolutions - Assembly - IMO Resolution A.533(13) – Elements to be Taken into Account when Considering the Safe Stowage and Securing of Cargo Units and Vehicles in Ships – (Adopted 17 November 1983)Amended by MSC.1/Circular.1354 - The Assembly

The Assembly

 RECALLING Article 16(j) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organisation concerning the functions of the Assembly in relation to regulations concerning maritime safety,

 RECALLING FURTHER that at its twelfth session it adopted resolution A.489(XII) regarding safe stowage and securing of cargo units and other entities in ships other than cellular container ships,

 TAKING ACCOUNT of the IMO/ILO guidelines for training in the packaging of cargo in freight containers,

 RECOGNIZING that cargo units and vehicles are transported in increasing numbers on seagoing ships,

 RECOGNIZING FURTHER that the cargo is stowed on and secured to cargo units and vehicles in most cases at the shipper's premises or at inland terminals and transported by road or rail to ports prior to the seagoing voyage and that the cargo on cargo units and vehicles may not always be adequately stowed or secured for safe sea transport,

 REALIZING that adequately stowed and secured cargoes on cargo units and vehicles for road and rail transport in most cases would also be capable of withstanding the forces imposed on them during the sea leg of the transport,

 ACKNOWLEDGING that there is a need for cargo units and vehicles presented for transport by sea to be fitted with satisfactory securing arrangements for securing them to the ship, arrangements for securing of the cargo within the cargo unit or vehicle to facilitate its safe stowage and securing therein and for ships to be fitted with adequate securing points,

 BELIEVING that the universal application of improved standards and securing arrangements is best facilitated if the elements to be taken into account when considering such matters are known to, and considered by, all links in the transport chain,

 BELIEVING FURTHER that this can best be achieved on an international basis,

 HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its forty-eighth session,

  1. INVITES Governments to issue recommendations to the different links in the transport chain in their countries, responsible for transport of cargo units and vehicles intended for, and including, sea transport, taking into account the elements set out in the Annex to this resolution,

  2. REQUESTS the Secretary-General to bring these elements to the attention of Member Governments and international organizations responsible for the safety of road, rail and sea transport in order that they can be taken into account in the design and construction of cargo units and vehicles and the design and construction of ships in which they are carried.


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