1 The Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventy-sixth
session (2 to 13 December 2002), considered recommendations for decision-making
emanating from various formal safety assessment (FSA) studies on bulk
carrier safety. In particular, the Committee agreed that a circular
should be prepared addressing bulk carriers which may not withstand
flooding of any one cargo hold and containing information on the action
to be taken in case of flooding of such holds, making sure that the
professional judgement of the master is not undermined.
2 The Committee, at its seventy-ninth session
(1 to 10 December 2004), having considered the recommendations made
by the Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment at its forty-sixth
session, the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation at its forty-ninth
and fiftieth sessions and the Sub-Committee on Standards of Training
and Watchkeeping at its thirty-fifth session, approved Guidelines
on early assessment of hull damage and possible need for abandonment
of bulk carriers, as set out in the annex.
Some common causes of hull damage are contained in the Appendix to
the annex.
3 Member Governments are invited to urge companies,
as defined in the ISM Code, that operate
bulk carriers flying their flag, to issue ship specific guidance,
based on the annexed Guidelines, to the masters of such bulk carriers
with a view to improving the precautionary measures and procedures
for emergencies on board their ships. This ship specific guidance
should be brought to the attention of all crew members during familiarization
training.