Draft Delegation Report:   Sub-Committee on Stability and Load Lines and on Fishing Vessels Safety (SLF), 51st Session, International Maritime Organization (IMO), London, July 14 - 18, 2008

Report to the Maritime Safety Committee, 51st Session has been posted, along with the following working papers from the session:
      Report of the SDS Working Group (WP.1)
      Report of the IS Working Group - Part 1 (WP.2);
      Report of the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels (WP.3);
      Report of options to improve ship design and safety of the 1969 TM Convention (WP.6)

Please note: the Report to MSC reflects outcomes different from what one could surmise from the WPs

1.   SUMMARY: The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Sub-Committee (S/C) on Stability and Load Lines and on Fishing Vessels Safety (SLF) held its 51st session at IMO headquarters in London from 14-18 July 2008, under the chair of Mr. Robin Gehling (Australia). 56 Member Governments, 2 Associate Members, 1 State not a Member, 2 representatives from United Nations Specialized Agencies, 2 observers from Inter-governmental Organizations, and 12 observers from Non-governmental Organizations participated. Following is the size of several delegations: United Kingdom - 19, Japan - 13, Germany - 12, China - 9, United States - 8, and France - 8.

The following Working Groups were established with the associated attendance of countries and observers: Subdivision and Damage Stability (23 countries, 5 observers), Intact Stability (17 countries, 1 observer), Safety of Small Fishing Vessels (19 countries, 5 observers). In addition, a Drafting Group was established on the 1969 Tonnage Measurement Convention (7 countries, 2 observers). Accomplishments and outcomes of particular interest include the following:

A. The Subdivision and Damage Stability (SDS) Working Group finalized the Explanatory Notes to the new revised Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) chapter II-1 subdivision and damage stability regulations and the associated draft Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) resolution, which were then agreed to by the S/C for submission to MSC 85 for adoption. The SDS Working Group completed a draft MSC Circular on Guidelines for flooding detection systems on passenger ships required by new SOLAS regulation II-1/22-1, which was agreed to by the S/C for submission to MSC 85 for approval. The SDS Working Group also prepared terms of reference for a correspondence group regarding damage stability regulations for ro-ro passenger ships.

B. The Intact Stability (IS) Working Group agreed to a Framework and a draft Terminology for the new generation intact stability criteria, which were then agreed to by the S/C. The IS Working Group prepared a draft MSC circular on early application of the 2008 IS Code, which was agreed to by the S/C for submission to MSC 85 for approval. The IS Working Group also prepared an updated plan of action, taking into account that no session of the S/C is scheduled for 2009, and, therefore, that much of the work must be advanced by the correspondence group. The S/C agreed to the updated plan of action, along with the associated terms of reference for the correspondence group.

C. The Working Group on Safety of Small Fishing Vessels further modified the draft safety recommendations for small fishing vessels, and prepared a timeframe for completion of these recommendations in 2010. The Working Group discussed development of guidelines to assist Competent Authorities on the implementation of Part B of the Fishing Vessel Safety Code, the Voluntary Guidelines and the Safety Recommendations, and prepared a preliminary list of contents for the guidelines. The Working Group considered the implementation of the 1993 Torremolinos Protocol, and prepared a questionnaire to identify barriers to ratification. An action plan was also prepared to outline timing for the development, implementation and conclusion of this task.

D. The Drafting Group on the 1969 Tonnage Measurement (TM) Convention summarized the outcome of the S/C’s discussion, prepared justification for amending the 1969 TM Convention to include tacit acceptance of amendments procedure, and prepared terms of reference for a correspondence group to continue work on this topic.

END SUMMARY.

2.    Development of Explanatory Notes for harmonized SOLAS chapter II-1. The SDS Working Group met the entire week, working on a variety of important issues. Most notably, the group finalized the Explanatory Notes to the new revised SOLAS chapter II-1 subdivision and damage stability regulations (that will enter into force 1 January 2009) and the associated draft MSC resolution. These were agreed to by the S/C for submission to MSC 85 for adoption, and will replace the Interim Explanatory Notes previously approved by MSC.1/Circular.1226. With the finalization of the Explanatory Notes, the work on this agenda item has been completed and the S/C invited MSC to delete it from the work program. It should be noted that this concludes well over a decade of work developing and harmonizing the cargo and passenger ship damage stability regulations under a probabilistic methodology.

The SDS Working Group also completed a draft MSC Circular on Guidelines for flooding detection systems on passenger ships required by new SOLAS regulation II-1/22-1 (that will enter into force 1 July 2010), which was agreed to by the S/C for submission to MSC 85 for approval. In the process of developing the Explanatory Notes, various regulations have been identified as either needing or being potential candidates for future improvement. As such, the SDS Working Group prepared a justification for the inclusion of a new item on “Revision of SOLAS chapter II-1 subdivision and stability regulations” in the work program of the S/C. The S/C referred this to MSC for approval and recommended it be included in the provisional agenda for SLF 53, after further experience has been gained applying the new regulations. The contentious matter of damage stability regulations for ro-ro passenger ships was considered by the SDS Working Group, and terms of reference for a relevant correspondence group were developed. The S/C then established a new SDS Correspondence Group, under the joint coordination of Sweden and the United Kingdom, to:

1. examine the impact of the damage stability requirements of the SOLAS 2009 amendments on ro-ro passenger ships, in comparison with the SOLAS 1990 regulations in association with the Stockholm Agreement;
2. define criteria to be used for the evaluation of the two approaches and determine whether the level of safety between them is generally equivalent;
3. assess existing and new studies on the subject as well as design experience; and
4. if it is found that safety levels are not generally equivalent, identify possible rectification measures.

The SDS Working Group also considered the impact of the revised SOLAS chapter II-1 provisions on the stability requirements in the Guidelines for ships operating in Arctic ice-covered waters. The S/C requested the Secretariat to forward related comments made within the SDS Working Group to the relevant Ship Design and Equipment (DE) Correspondence Group, and also invited stability experts to contribute directly to that group.

3.    Revision of the Intact Stability Code. The IS Working Group met the entire week and continued to work on a variety of intact stability tasks. The S/C noted that the IS Working Group considered the matter related to ships with large Beam/Depth ratio, and concluded that this has been sufficiently covered by the provisions contained in the draft Explanatory Notes to the 2008 IS Code, formal approval of which is expected at MSC 85 simultaneously with the 2008 IS Code adoption. The IS Working Group prepared a draft MSC circular on early application of the 2008 IS Code, which was agreed to by the S/C for submission to MSC 85 for approval. The S/C also noted that the IS Working Group deliberated on the reduction of pressure (P) and effects of the rollback angle in the weather criterion for ships engaged in restricted service, but recalled that SLF 48 decided that the weather criterion should be kept standard until new criteria are agreed upon.

After thorough discussions, the IS Working Group agreed to a Framework and a draft Terminology for the new generation intact stability criteria, which will be kept as working documents. The S/C also agreed to the updated plan of action prepared by the IS Working Group that outlines the development of the new generation intact stability criteria, which the S/C agreed to as the new title of this item.

Further, the S/C agreed, in principle, and invited Member Governments and international organizations to take part in the significant work to be done intersessionally and re-established the Correspondence Group, under the coordination of Japan, to:

1. continue to work on the items contained in the updated plan of action for stability work;
2. further consider the new generation intact stability criteria;
3. identify a sample of ships relevant to the failure modes described in the Framework for the new generation intact stability criteria;
4. collect and make available to the correspondence group all the relevant data of the ships (identified in 3 above);
5. collect in the mid-term (tentatively March 2009) the results concerning the application of procedures for checking vulnerability in accordance with paragraph 2.3 of the updated plan of action;
6. collect in the mid-term (tentatively June 2009) the results concerning the application of procedures for direct assessment of intact stability in accordance with paragraph 2.4 of the updated plan of action; and
7. on the basis of these results, co-ordinate the development of preliminary secifications for the quality of the procedures and for the quantities considered relevant for the formulation of new generation intact stability criteria.

4.    Safety of small fishing vessels. The S/C agreed on the Working Group’s modifications to the draft Safety recommendations and on the timeframe for the finalization of work, with a view to completion by 2010 (after review of relevant chapters by other S/Cs). The S/C also agreed to have the correspondence group continue development of draft guidelines to assist Competent Authorities on the implementation of Part B of the Fishing Vessel Safety Code, the Voluntary Guidelines and the Safety Recommendations. The impact of small pleasure and fishing craft on the marine environment was also discussed, but the Working Group was of the view that, given their lack of expertise in environmental matters, this topic should be addressed by the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC). In discussing how to facilitate ratification of the 1993 Torremolinos Protocol (which would allow entry into force), the S/C agreed that the Secretariat should initiate a consultation process with States that have more than 500 registered fishing vessels of 24 meters in length and over. This consultation process should start with the questionnaire prepared by the Working Group, and the results of the questionnaire should be provided to the correspondence group. The Working Group’s action plan for this work program item was also agreed to, and MSC was invited to endorse this course of action.

The S/C re-established the Correspondence Group, under the coordination of South Africa, to:

1. further develop the draft “Safety recommendations for decked fishing vessels of less than 12 meters in length and undecked fishing vessels”;
2. prepare a draft Agreement on implementation of the 1993 Torremolinos Protocol; and
3. further develop the draft guidelines to assist Competent Authorities on the implementation of Part B of the Fishing Vessel Safety Code, the Voluntary Guidelines and the Safety Recommendations.

5.    Development of options to improve effect on ship design and safety of the 1969 Tonnage Measurement (TM) Convention. The S/C considered the results and recommendations of the Correspondence Group, and discussed the way forward under this agenda item. It was agreed that options to improve the Convention needed further development and evaluation. There was also lengthy discussion regarding several options to incorporate tacit acceptance procedure for amendments to the Convention, and the need for such tacit procedure. It was agreed that this topic also needed further discussion. A drafting group was established in order to summarize the plenary discussion, prepare justification for amending the 1969 TM Convention and to prepare terms of reference for a correspondence group. After reviewing the work of the drafting group, the S/C agreed to invite MSC 85 to extend the target completion date of the existing work program item to 2011.

If extension of the item is endorsed by MSC, the S/C agreed to establish a Correspondence Group with the following terms of reference: Taking into account the potential effects on safety, ship design, human factors, economic and other operational considerations, the correspondence group is instructed to:

1. further develop and evaluate the options in document SLF 51/6, taking into account document SLF 51/6/1 and relevant documents from previous sessions;
2. further develop and evaluate subsequent options which may be identified during this work;
3. identify the added value of the options; and
4. make recommendations, as appropriate.

6.    Guidelines for uniform operating limitations on high-speed craft. The S/C noted that DE 51 had re-established the correspondence group on this topic, and also noted the state of SLF related developments within that group. Since the draft Guidelines are to be finalized at DE 52 (March 2009), there was only a brief discussion before Members and international organizations were invited to contribute directly to the DE correspondence group on these items. The S/C considered that work on this agenda item had been completed, and invited MSC to delete it from the S/C work program.

7.    Time-dependent survivability of passenger ships in damaged condition. The S/C considered the preliminary report provided by the International Towing Tank Conference (ITTC) regarding benchmark testing of numerical codes for time-to-flood prediction of damaged passenger ships. Recognizing the need for more information, the S/C invited Members and international organizations to submit proposals and comments on this item to the next session. The S/C also requested an extension of the target completion date of the item to 2011, since there is no meeting scheduled for 2009.

8.    Consideration of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) Unified Interpretations. The S/C noted that Unified Interpretation (UI) SC155, “Lightweight check in lieu of inclining test”, is covered by the revised SOLAS chapter II-1 which is due to enter into force on 1 January 2009, and no further action is necessary. The S/C forwarded the issues regarding UI LL65, “Ships with assigned or reassigned reduced freeboards and intended to carry deck cargo”, and UI SC161, “Timber deck cargo in the context of damage stability requirements”, to the SDS Working Group for consideration and advice. The Working Group noted that the scope of application of UI LL65 should be made clearer, and that the text in footnote Number 2 of UI SC161 referring to the application date should be clarified. Based on these comments from the SDS Working Group, the S/C invited IACS to provide clarification to the next session for consideration. The observer from IACS disagreed with this course of action.

9.    Guidance on the impact of open watertight doors on existing and new ship survivability. The S/C considered the proposed guidance submitted by Sweden and the United States, as well as comments provided by Germany and the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). During an extensive discussion on the topic, a majority supported the view that the guidance developed should distinguish between existing and new ships. Subsequently, the S/C agreed that it should develop design and construction guidance from the survivability point of view, distinguishing between new and existing ships. Sweden and the United States disagreed with this decision, noting that technical guidance regarding the impact of open watertight doors on survivability (under the same regulation) should not be different for existing and new ships. The S/C then instructed the SDS Correspondence Group to prepare draft guidance on the impact of open watertight doors on existing and new ship survivability, taking into account the relevant SLF 51 documents, IACS UI 1569, the applicability of any formulae, and the need to differentiate between existing and new ships. The S/C also requested an extension of the target completion date to 2011.

10.    Stability and sea-keeping characteristics of damaged passenger ships in a seaway when returning to port by own power or under tow. The S/C considered the five documents submitted under this agenda item. During the discussion, a majority of delegations supported the United States’ view that an “operational guidance only” approach for safe return to port should be developed. The S/C instructed the SDS Correspondence Group to:

1. develop design and damage stability criteria for passenger ships for safe return to port by own power or under tow;
2. prepare draft guidelines for operational information for masters of passenger ships for safe return to port by own power or under tow; and
3. prepare draft amendments to SOLAS regulation II-1/8-1. The S/C also requested an extension of the target completion date of the item to 2011.

11.    Guidelines for drainage systems in closed vehicle and ro-ro spaces and special category spaces. The S/C noted the current status of work on this item by other IMO bodies, and also noted that Fire Protection (FP) 52 had instructed a FP correspondence group to further develop the Guidelines with a view to finalization at FP 53 (February 2009). Based on previous work by the SDS Working Group at SLF 49, the S/C agreed to specifications for the drainage capacity and the “scupper grating” construction, and requested the Secretariat to inform FP 53 of these results. Members and international organizations were invited to contribute to the FP correspondence group. The S/C considered that work on this agenda item had been completed, and invited MSC to delete it from the S/C work program.

12.    Guidelines for verification of damage stability requirements for tankers and bulk carriers. The S/C considered the six documents submitted under this agenda item. Following extensive debate, although some delegations supported the view that there is an urgent need to develop guidelines for the verification of damage stability requirements for tankers prior to departure, the majority of delegations strongly supported the view that more information on the alleged non-compliance is needed before taking any action. Therefore the S/C invited Member Governments and international organizations to submit information on the alleged non-compliance with tanker damage stability requirements to the next session for further consideration. The S/C also requested an extension of the target completion date of the item to 2010, since there is no meeting scheduled for 2009.

13.    Next Session. The S/C unanimously re-elected Mr. Rob Gehling (Australia) as Chairman for 2009. Mr. Zbigniew Szozda (Poland) was also re-elected as Vice-Chairman. The fifty-second session of the S/C is tentatively scheduled for January 2010.