The Assembly

 RECALLING Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Assembly in relation to regulations and guidelines concerning maritime safety,

 RECALLING ALSO that, while Regulations III/40.7.1 and 41.9.2 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, require the ship's name and port of registry to be marked on rigid liferafts and lifeboats, there are no such requirements therein for marking inflatable liferafts,

 RECOGNIZING that properly marked inflatable liferafts may considerably facilitate the initiation or effective conduct of a search and rescue operation or the determination as to whether such an operation is necessary,

 NOTING that a simple and inexpensive means of ship identification in cases mentioned above has been developed,

 HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its sixtieth session,

 INVITES Governments to require that:

  (a) inflatable liferafts carry a means of identification showing the name and port of registry of the ship to which the inflatable liferaft belongs;

  (b) the identification can be easily updated, without opening the inflatable liferaft container; and

  (c) to the extent practicable, existing inflatable liferafts are also marked in the same manner.