Published on: 01 December 2022
The IMO held its 106th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), 2-11 November 2022.
The following topics of interest to the superyacht, leisure and small commercial vessel sectors were discussed:
Safety measures for non-SOLAS ships operating in polar waters – Polar Code amendments
The committee approved, with a view to adoption at MSC 107, the draft amendments to the Polar Code, together with associated amendments to the SOLAS Convention, to incorporate new requirements for non-SOLAS ships concerning safety of navigation and voyage planning. The amendments will be applicable to fishing vessels of 24 m in length overall and above, pleasure yachts of 300 GT and upwards not engaged in trade and cargo ships of 300 GT and upwards but below 500 GT
The regulations are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2026 for new vessels and one year later for existing vessels.
Piracy and armed robbery against ships
The committee was advised that 69 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported to the organisation as having occurred or been attempted in January to June 2022, representing a decrease of approximately 22 percent compared to the same period last year. The areas most affected from January to June 2022 were:
- The Straits of Malacca and Singapore – 36
- West Africa -13
- South America (Pacific) – 9
On a positive note for the large yacht sector, ICS, BIMCO, OCIMF, INTERTANKO, INTERCARGO and IMCA submitted document MSC 106/INF.10 “Removal of the Indian Ocean High Risk Area”.
It advises that due to the much improved security situation in the Indian Ocean, the designation of High Risk Area will be discontinued as of 0001 UTC on 1 January 2023.
Safety of onboard lifting appliances and anchor handling winches
The MSC approved in principle draft guidelines on lifting appliances, with a view to final approval at MSC 107. Please see previous SSE reports regarding the SOLAS amendments and the development of the guidelines. The draft guidelines can be found at annex 3 of the report of the SSE working group in the embedded document (MSC 106/WP.11) of the full report.
Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS)
The committee made further progress on the development of a goal-based instrument regulating the operation of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS).
Following experience gained with the non-mandatory initial instrument a mandatory MASS Code is planned with an entry into force on 1 January 2028. In the first instance, the Code is to apply to cargo ships (which would include yachts carrying up to 12 guests).
Full details on the work, including a draft of the structure of the MASS code (annex 1) can be found in the embedded document (MSC 106/WP.8.) of the full report.
Enhancing the safety of ships relating to the use of oil fuel
The committee adopted amendments to SOLAS chapter II-2 in relation to fuel oil flashpoint (see MSC 105 report). The amendments require that ships shall, prior to bunkering, be provided with a declaration signed and certified by the fuel oil supplier’s representative that the oil fuel supplied is in conformity with regulation SOLAS II.2/4.2.1.
The declaration must also provide details on the test method used for determining the flashpoint. A bunker delivery note for the fuel delivered to the ship shall contain the flashpoint specified in accordance with standards acceptable to the organisation, or a statement that flashpoint has been measured at or above 70ºC. These amendments will enter force on 1 January 2026.
The committee also agreed a raft of new outputs to be carried out, details of which can be found in the full report which can be downloaded from the British Marine website here.
