Marine Safety and
 Environmental Protection

Panel/Regional/Sub-Panel Meetings

Panel: Contacts - Harry.P.Cojeen@uscg.mil or Jaideep.Sirkar@uscg.mil

Regional:

Sub-Panels:
Ad Hoc Panel #8 Safety of Passenger Ships
Ad Hoc Panel #11 Evaluation of Accidental Oil Spills from Bunker Tanks
Ad Hoc Panel #13 Investigation of Head-Sea Parametric Rolling and Resulting Vessel and Cargo Securing Loads
Ad Hoc Panel #14 Oily Water Separator Systems - State of the Art Evaluation
Ad Hoc Panel #15 Loading Criteria for People aboard Passenger Vessels

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World Maritime Technology Conference - 2009

WMTC 2009 will be hosted by The Institute of Marine Engineers (India) in Mumbia, India in February 2009.

Website: http://www.wmtc2009.com
More Information is available at: http://www.worldmaritimenetwork.com

Active Projects

This section reports on active projects at IMO (especially the SLF Sub-Committee) and SNAME T&R Ad Hoc panels. Reports on completed projects are preserved on the IMO Activities Archive web page.

Explanatory Notes for the new harmonized SOLAS Chapter II-1 Damage Stability Regulations

The new harmonized SOLAS Chapter II-1 damage stability regulations were adopted at MSC 80 in May 2005 (see Resolution MSC.194(80)) and re-adopted at MSC 82 in December 2006 (see Resolution MSC.216(82)), and will enter into force on 1 January 2009.

The remaining task associated with this harmonization effort is for the SLF Sub-Committee to develop associated Explanatory Notes, to ensure uniform application of the new regulations by providing amplifying details and information. Progress on this task is summarized here:

At SLF 48 (September 2005), significant progress was made on priority issues associated with intermediate stage flooding, cross-flooding, equalization time, progressive flooding, and horizontal escape routes. Resolving these issues in the Explanatory Notes was extremely important due to their impact on future passenger ship designs. The Subdivision and Damage Stability (SDS) Correspondence Group was re-established to complete the draft Explanatory Notes for consideration at SLF 49 (July 2006). The following additional items are being considered in association with development of the Explanatory Notes:

• Revision of Resolution A.266(VIII) to include cross-flooding arrangements other than pipes and air ventilation to assure efficient cross-flooding
• Guidelines on damage consequence diagrams and, if considered appropriate, inclusion in the Explanatory Notes
• Guidance by which Administrations may determine the impact on survivability of open watertight doors permitted by new SOLAS regulation II-1/22.4 for inclusion in the Explanatory Notes

At SLF 49 (July 2006): in the interest of getting guidance published as soon as possible, the SDS working group completed interim Explanatory Notes, which were approved at MSC 82 (December 2006) and issued as MSC.1/Circ.1226, Interim Explanatory Notes to the SOLAS Chapter II-1 Subdivision and Damage Stability Regulations. These interim Explanatory Notes will remain in effect while the SDS working group works on finalizing some remaining details that require more time.

At SLF 50 (April/May 2007), the SDS working group continued development of additions and improvements to the interim Explanatory Notes. It is expected that they will be finalized at SLF 51 (July 2008) and approved at MSC 85 (November/December 2008), just as the new harmonized SOLAS regulations enter into force on January 1, 2009.

Visit the SDS Correspondence Group’s website for additional information:
www.sname.org/committees/tech_ops/O44/sdsiscg/home.html

Contacts - Jim Person, LCDR Tracy Phillips, or Bill Peters

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Passenger Ship Safety

In 2001, IMO began a broad initiative to review the safety of large passenger ships. MSC 74 (June 2001) directed SLF to evaluate nine tasks related to the regulatory framework for both existing and future large passenger ships. After consideration of these tasks at SLF 44 (September 2001) and SLF 45 (July 2002), the active items were narrowed to: characterize the design survivability of the ship; structural integrity of the ship after damage; and raking damage issues for future ships. The SLF Sub-Committee worked on these items for the next several years, and finally completed them at SLF 49 (July 2006). The details of SLF work on these items are found on the IMO Activities Archive web page under the heading of IMO Large Passenger Ship Safety Initiative.

Although the main IMO initiative is finished, three new passenger ship work items emerged from it: (1) Guidelines for flooding detection systems, (2) Time-dependent survivability in damaged condition, and (3) Stability and seakeeping characteristics of damaged passenger ships when returning to port. These are discussed in detail below.

(1) Guidelines for Flooding Detection Systems: - the new harmonized SOLAS Regulation II-1/22-1 on flooding detection systems will go into force on July 1, 2010. To ensure uniform interpretation of the requirements, SLF is developing appropriate guidelines. At SLF 50 (April/May 2007), several key decisions were agreed upon regarding continuous flood level monitoring and size limits on spaces to be equipped with detection systems. The SDS Correspondence Group (under the joint coordination of Sweden and the U.S.) was tasked to develop draft Guidelines during the intersessional period (for consideration at SLF 51 (July 2008)).

More information is available on the SDS Correspondence Group's website:
http://www.sname.org/committees/tech_ops/O44/sdsiscg/home.html

(2) Time-dependent survivability of passenger ships in damaged condition (aka “Time-to-Flood”) - Based on the working group's Report on Passenger Ship Safety, MSC 81 (May 2006) added this as a high-priority item to SLF's work program. The objective is to continue the earlier work related to time-to-flood calculations and advance the concept of establishing casualty criteria that would allow a 3-hour minimum time period for orderly evacuation and abandonment of a damaged pasenger ship. At SLF 50, the S/C reviewed an ITTC progress report on benchmark testing of numerical codes for time-to-flood prediction for damaged passenger ships, and requested additional information be submitted to SLF 51 (July 2008).

(3) Stability and seakeeping characteristics of damaged passenger ships in a seaway when returning to port by own power or under tow (aka “Return-to-Port”) - MSC 82 (December 2006) added this item to the SLF work program, for preliminary consideration at SLF 50 (April/May 2007). The objective is to develop SOLAS amendments regarding design requirements to enable safe return to port, and develop operational guidelines for use by passenger ship masters in assessing damage stability for safe return to port (either under power or under tow). At SLF 50, the S/C extensively debated on how to best proceed on this issue, and established an intersessional correspondence group (under the coordination of the U.K.) to develop design and damage stability criteria for such damaged passenger ships, and develop initial draft operational Guidelines for masters for consideration at SLF 51 (July 2008).

SNAME Ad Hoc Panel #8, Safety of Passenger Ships, which was formed under the SNAME T&R Steering Committee in 1999 (before the issue was taken up by the MSC in 2001), has been revitalized with renewed interest due to the active consideration given to this subject by the IMO. Information concerning the panel is located on the Panel’s website at:
http://www.sname.org/committees/tech_ops/O44/passenger/home.html

SNAME Ad Hoc Panel #15, Loading Criteria for People Aboard Passenger Vessels, was chartered by the SNAME T&R Steering Committee at its meeting in October 2005 at the SMTC held in Houston. The panel’s main work will be to peer review the USCG-sponsored study on increased passenger weight - as it affects the U.S. domestic small passenger vessel fleet. The ad hoc panel has commented on the grouping of passenger vessels for evaluation, the technical assumptions used for the evaluations, and reviewed the technical validity and thoroughness of the results. Information concerning the panel is located on the panel’s website at:
http://www.sname.org/committees/tech_ops/O44/passenger/activity-15.html

Contacts - Jim Person or Bill Peters or
             Dr. George Borlase, chair of Ad Hoc #15

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Review of the Intact Stability Code

The IMO Sub-Committee on Stability and Load Lines and on Fishing Vessels Safety (SLF) established a Working Group on Revision of the Intact Stability Code (IS Code) at its 45th session (July 2002) under the chair of Professor Alberto Francescutto of the University of Trieste. The terms of reference (TOR) of the working group was to develop a two-way approach that (a) would allow the completion of some priority tasks by 2004 and (b) a plan to re-develop the Code according to a performance standards approach. The IS Code was first published in 1995 and subsequently amended in 1999.

At SLF 46 (September 2003), the task of making certain IS criteria mandatory was discussed and agreed upon as a worthwhile next step in the revision of the Code. It was determined that any decisions on mandatory sections of the Code would be beyond the mandate of SLF. Germany volunteered to submit a paper to the MSC (MSC 78/24/1) requesting that this task be added to the SLF work-plan.

At SLF 47 (September 2004), the Intact Stability Working Group continued to review the Intact Stability Code using a two-phased approach, completing most of the short-term phase at this session. The short-term phase included: development of a new structure for the Code (to include making certain parts mandatory), consideration of free surface effects of nominally full liquid cargo tanks, and the use of anti-heeling devices. The long-term phase (to be completed by 2007) will consider revising the Code using performance-based criteria, additional ship type specific standards, modification of the weather criterion, interim guidelines for model tests and full-scale trials as an alternative to the weather criterion, revision of MSC/Circ.707, Guidance to the master for avoiding dangerous situations in following and quartering seas, and initial efforts aimed at identifying areas of concern and areas requiring future research. The intersessional correspondence group was re-established to continue this work; its terms of reference are presented in the SLF 47 Summary of Decisions (paper SLF 47/17).

During the intersessional period between SLF 47 and SLF 48, the Correspondence Group developed a draft revised IS Code, which was submitted for consideration at SLF 48 (September 2005). In addition to the re-structuring of the Code, a number of changes were included:

• a Preamble is added,
• all definitions are merged under the Part “Purpose and Definitions,”
• the decisions made at SLF 47 are implemented,
• the symbol for heel is changed from theta to phi,
• a new chapter 4 of Part B for stability, loading instruments is added,
• all standard loading conditions required are merged under Part B, chapter 3.4,
• all assumptions for calculating loading cases are merged under Part B, chapter 3.4.2,
• all recommendations for calculating loading cases, for stability booklets and operational measures are merged under Part B, chapter 3.3 to 3.7,
• acceptance levels for light ship survey of following sister vessels are clearly defined under Part B, chapter 8.14,
• origins of the present criteria stated under Part A, 2.2 are inserted into the Explanatory Notes, Part C, chapter 3,
• the version of October 2004 of the guidelines for alternative assessment of the weather criterion are implemented as Annex 1, and
• recommended MODU criteria is added in Part B, 2.6.

At SLF 48 (September 2005), the Intact Stability working group completed the short-term tasks for the IS Code revision by addressing all noted technical issues. The S/C agreed that the weather criteria should remain as it is in Part A, and submitted the Interim Guidelines for alternative assessment of the weather criterion (these were ultimately approved at MSC 81 as MSC.1/Circ.1200). In addition, the S/C agreed that hardware of stability computers should not be approved by the Administration and endorsed development of guidelines for the approval of stability instrument software. Finally, the S/C agreed that performance-based criteria should be developed as a long-term item.

At SLF 49 (July 2006), the S/C completed its technical work on the revised Code of Intact Stability (IS Code) after accepting further improvements and recommendations by the intersessional Correspondence Group. The IS Correspondence Group was tasked to recommend a plan to determine the most appropriate way to amend the SOLAS and Load Lines regulations to implement the mandatory provisions, and suggest means to achieve the same entry-into-force date. Agreement was also reached on several MSC circulars, which were approved by MSC 82; included explanatory notes, guidelines for stability instrument approval, and Guidance to the master for avoiding dangerous situations in adverse weather and sea conditions (as a revision to MSC/Circ.707). The Correspondence Group was tasked to continue work on the items in the updated plan of action for IS work, such as consideration of regulations for certain types of ships and development of performance-based criteria.

At SLF 50 (April/May 2007), several key actions and decisions were made: the final draft of the IS Code was approved by the Sub-Committee; the S/C drafted amendments to both SOLAS and ICLL conventions to make Part A of the IS Code mandatory; and the S/C approved the final draft Explantory Notes to the IS Code. All three were forwarded for consideration at MSC 83 (October 2007). This completed the short-term objectives; the S/C will now turn to the long-term objective of developing the new generation intact stability criteria.

SNAME Ad Hoc Panel #13, Investigation of Head-Sea Parametric Rolling and Resulting Vessel and Cargo Securing Loads. One of the topics being addressed is parametric rolling. This panel was formed to consider this important issue. The key objective of the panel was to better identify sea and vessel characteristics that initiate this coupling of pitch and extreme rolling based on current data and to propose operational guidelines and navigational procedures for vessels to avoid the effects of the phenomenon. The activities of this panel have now been transferred to the Panel SD-3, Stability. Those interested in this subject should contact the SD-3 Panel Chair, Richard Sonnenshein at richard.sonnenschein@dot.gov or visit the Panel's website:
http://www.sname.org/committees/tech_ops/roll/home.html

Contact - Bill Peters

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Verification of Damage Stability Requirements for Tankers and Bulk Carriers

At MSC 83 (October 2007), paper MSC 83/25/14 raised the issue of verification that loaded tank vessels are in compliance with appropriate damage stability requirements when they sail. For many tank vessels, the number of possible tank loading combinations can differ greatly from the actual sample loading conditions presented in the vessel's approved Trim and Stability Booklet. The paper pointed out that although shipboard loading and stability computers can verify that the tank vessel's loaded condition meets intact stability requirements, but such computers do not verify that the loading condition also meets damage stability requirements. The paper notes that “a range of stability programmes approved by classification societies already exist which can address this issue, and these have been effectively rendered compulsory equipment on new tank vessels by IACS UR L5. However, in order to provide a uniform standard of calculation, consideration must be given to developing guidelines on a specific calculation methodology which can be applied by all such programmes.” A similar paper (MSC 83/25/16) raised the same concern for bulk carriers. After discussing the issue, the Committee decided to add this item to the SLF work programme, commencing with SLF 51 (July 2008).

Contact - Jim Person

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Environmental Protection Matters

Protection of Fuel Tanks - Bunker oil spills have been attracting increasing public and industry attention due to a series of recent collision and grounding casualties in environmentally sensitive areas. IMO has addressed this matter through its Ship Design and Equipment (DE) Sub-Committee.

This topic was considered at DE 47 (March 2004). The intersessional Correspondence Group, established under the coordination of Germany, was instructed to:

1. develop a draft MARPOL regulation on the protection of fuel tanks, taking into account documents DE 47/6, DE 47/6/1, DE 47/6/2, DE 47/6/3, DE 47/6/4, DE 47/WP.3, DE 46/29, BLG 7/INF.6, DE 46/INF.4 and MEPC 49/16/6 (note: these papers are available on the Ad Hoc Panel #11 website through the link provided below); and
2. give special consideration to the following issues:
   • application to new ships only;
   • application to smaller ships;
   • use of tank capacity as a criteria;
   • application to heavy fuel oil; and
   • use of the probabilistic outflow method.

As stated in our paper (DE 48/7/2), we were concerned by the lack of a minimum oil outflow requirement for bottom damage. The Correspondence Group report and draft MARPOL regulation for the protection of fuel tanks is provided in DE 48/7. These papers, and two submissions from Japan, may be accessed on the Other IMO Matters web page at:
http://www.sname.org/committees/tech_ops/O44/imo.html.

At DE 48 (February 2005), the S/C considered the Correspondence Group report and draft MARPOL regulation which contains two options for the protection of fuel tanks: a prescriptive double hull requirement and an alternative probabilistic oil outflow requirement. The S/C finalized the draft new MARPOL regulation for submission to MEPC 53 (July 2005) for approval. The draft regulation applies to all ships with an aggregate fuel capacity of 600 cubic meters and greater; fuel is defined as any oil used as fuel for the propulsion and auxiliary machinery of the ship; small tanks less than 30 cubic meters are excluded; there is a maximum individual tank size limit of 2,500 cubic meters; an important new factor for minimum oil outflow from bottom damage to tanks bounding the bottom shell was added to the alternative probabilistic oil outflow option.

At MEPC 53 (July 2005), the draft new MARPOL Annex I regulation 13A Oil fuel tank protection was considered. The Committee agreed to a proposal from Singapore to exclude self-elevating drilling units from the double bottom requirement in the draft regulation. The Committee then approved the draft new regulation 13A to the revised MARPOL Annex I and associated consequential draft amendments to the IOPP Certificate Supplements, with a view to adoption at MEPC 54.

At MEPC 54 (March 2006), the drafting group proposed that the draft MARPOL Annex I regulation 13A, Oil fuel tank protection, be renumbered as regulation 12A. The Committee agreed to this, and adopted all the proposed amendments per Resolution MEPC.141(54). These amendments include oil fuel tank protection, IOPP amendments, and the definition of “Heavy Grade Oil” in Regulation 21, and entered into force on August 1, 2007.

Contact - Jim Person

SNAME Ad Hoc Panel #11, Evaluation of Accidental Oil Spills from Bunker Tanks, was formed to consider this important issue. Their Interim Report was submitted to DE 46 as an information paper (DE 46/INF.4 referenced above) by Ad Hoc Panel member INTERTANKO (which has NGO status at IMO). Additional information can be found on the panel's website:
http://www.sname.org/committees/tech_ops/bunkertank/home.html

Contacts - Arthur Haskell or Jim Person

Revision of MARPOL Annex I - At BLG 8 (March 2003), the BLG S/C finalized and agreed to a draft revised MARPOL Annex I (primarily a re-write of the current Annex I). The draft revised MARPOL Annex I was approved in principle at MEPC 49 (July 2003), with a view towards incorporating any amendments adopted by MEPC 50 for a final approval of the Annex at MEPC 51. Amendments to regulation 13G and a new regulation 13H were subsequently adopted at MEPC 50 (see MEPC 51/22, paragraph 12 for a summary). MEPC 51 (April 2004) then incorporated the changes and approved the updated draft revised MARPOL Annex I with a view to adoption at MEPC 52. The revised MARPOL Annex I (Resolution MEPC.117(52)) was adopted at MEPC 52 (October 2004) and entered into force on January 1, 2007.

Contact - Jim Person

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Ship Design Matters

(1) Guidelines for the maintenance and repair of protective coatings: the CG agreed that a good starting point for draft Guidelines is IACS's Recommendation 87, “Guidelines for Coating Maintenance and Repair for Ballast Tanks and Combined Cargo/Ballast Tanks on Tankers,” recognizing that the scope needed to be expanded to include other vessels in addition to oil tankers. The CG's draft Guidelines and other related papers were considered at DE 51 (Feb 2008) under agenda item 14. The S/C determined that the appropriate technical expertise to expand the applicability to other vessels (in addition to tankers) was not represented at DE 51. The IACS observer advised the S/C that IACS was also working on the "other vessels" issue. The S/C also recognized that "repair" of coatings was substantially different from "maintenance," so that these should be treated as two separate issues. Therefore, the S/C decided to defer consideration of the draft Guidelines to DE 52 (March 2008), when the results of IACS' efforts would be available.

(2) Corrosion protection for means of access: MSC 83 (October 2007) adopted resolution MSC.215(82), “Performance standards for protective coatings for dedicated SWB tanks in all types of ships and double-side skin spaces of bulk carriers (PSPC).” The purpose of this task is to develop specific PSPC requirements for coating protection for means of access within these tanks and spaces. The CG considered both permanent and non-permanent means of access (deciding to limit it to permanent means), types of protective coatings (hot-dipped galvanizing, epoxy-based paints, etc), in-service repairability, etc. The proposed draft requirements were considered at DE 51 (February 2008). The S/C approved the Guidelines and an associated draft MSC circular, to be forwarded for consideration at MSC 84 (May 2008).

(3) Draft SOLAS regulations regarding corrosion protection of oil cargo tanks: MSC 82 (Nov-Dec 2006) added this item to DE's work programme as a high-priority item. The CG used the draft SOLAS regulation proposed in MSC 82/23/4 as a starting point. The CG considered the types of oil cargo (crude vs. product), the use of corrosion-resistant steel (in lieu of coatings), and non-aggressive cargoes. Unlike the protective measures for means of access (where the CG came to a consensus position among members), this issue did not result in a single consensus position. Therefore, the draft SOLAS regulation contains several square-bracketed provisions. The draft SOLAS regulation, and other related papers, were considered at DE 51 (Feb 2008). The S/C agreed to the draft Performance standard in principal, but decided that certain aspects still needed further development (in particular regarding stripe coating and testing of alternative arrangements). A new draft will be submitted for consideration at DE 52 (March 2009).

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Air Emissions and Energy Efficiency

MARPOL Annex VI, Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships

MEPC 57 (March/April 2008) approved the proposed amendments. They will now be circulated for consideration, with a view to adoption at MEPC 58 (October 2008). The amendments would then enter into force in 2010. Refer to the IMO press release for more-detailed discussion of the amendments.

Contact - Wayne Lundy

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Fishing Vessel and Small Working Vessel Operations and Safety

Small Fishing Vessel Safety

At MSC 79 (December 2004), the Committee approved the FAO/ILO/IMO Code of Safety for Fishermen and Fishing Vessels, 2005 and the Voluntary Guidelines for the Design, Construction and Equipment of Small Fishing Vessels, 2005. At the same meeting, and in order to address the safety of small fishing vessels that are not covered by these instruments, the Committee agreed to add new work item to the SLF 48 agenda on the Safety of small fishing vessels, with the objective of developing safety standards for small fishing vessels.

At SLF 48 (September 2005), the Sub-Committee gave initial consideration to the contents of safety standards for small fishing vessels on the basis of documents SLF 48/16 (FAO) and SLF 48/INF.3 (Ireland) and provided terms of reference to the correspondence group. In co-operation with FAO [and ILO], IMO will examine existing regional and national safety standards for small fishing vessels and develop a consolidated draft text of the safety standards for small fishing vessels. These standards will cover decked fishing vessels of less than 12 m in length and undecked fishing vessels of any length. The correspondence group is to submit a report to SLF 49.

At SLF 49 (July 2006), the Working Group on Safety of Small Fishing Vessels continued development of draft safety standards for small fishing vessels on the basis of the consolidated draft text provided in the Correspondence Group report. SLF 49 agreed to use “Safety recommendations for decked fishing vessels of less than 12 metres in length and undecked fishing vessels” as the guidance document title. The amended draft Safety Recommendations are provided in part 2 of the Working Group’s report. The Correspondence Group was re-established under the coordination of South Africa to finalize the draft Safety Recommendations for consideration at SLF 50.

At SLF 50 (April/May 2007), the working group developed the draft Safety Recommendations to the degree that they will now be circulated among other relevent IMO sub-committees for review and comment as appropriate. The S/C also decided that there will be a need for Guidelines to assist competent maritime authorities in implementing the Safety Recommendations and requested approval from MSC 83 to develop these (which has subsequently been granted). Meanwhile, the intersessional correspondence group was re-established to review the draft Safety Recommendations against the pending ILO Convention and Recommendation concerning work in fishing (to ensure consistency between the two), and to review the pending FAO study on scantlings of wooden fishing vessels.

The correspondence group will use the website:
http://www.sigling.is/FVS-ISCG to exchange and disseminate information and papers during the intersessional period.

Contact - Mike Rosecrans at Michael.E.Rosecrans@uscg.mil

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SNAME Ad Hoc Panel #12

Ad Hoc Panel #12 on Fishing Vessel Operations and Safety was formed in 2001 as one of the ad hoc panels formed under the T&R Steering Committee banner. The panel's purpose was to address fishing vessel safety from a broad perspective. It's work was a success; a key accomplishment being their work with other like-minded organizations to affect a major shift to a safety culture within the U.S. and international commercial fishing fleets. The ad hoc panel was closed in 2005, and its few remaining tasks were shifted to a newly-created STOC panel: Panel O-49. This new panel, titled Small Working Vessel Operations and Safety, will endeavor to bring technology to achieve a similar shift in approach to this important segment of the U.S. domestic fleet.

Contacts - John Womack or Professor Bruce Johnson

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