The SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) 2024 amendments, set to come into effect on January 1, 2024, introduce a comprehensive update aimed at enhancing maritime safety, embracing technological advancements, and addressing evolving maritime challenges. These amendments reflect a continuous effort to refine and modernize the international regulatory framework for the maritime industry, ensuring that safety measures are in line with the latest technological developments and operational practices.
Here’s an overview of the key amendments:
Safe Mooring Operations
The amendments introduce stringent requirements for the selection, arrangement, inspection, maintenance, and replacement of mooring equipment, including mooring lines, to enhance safety. Documentation detailing the design of mooring arrangements and the selection of mooring equipment must be maintained onboard. These requirements aim to mitigate accidents during mooring operations, applicable to new cargo and passenger ships constructed on or after January 1, 2024, and retroactively applied to all ships for maintenance and inspection norms.
Modernization of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)
The GMDSS amendments modernize the system to allow for the use of modern communication systems while removing the requirement for carrying obsolete systems. Key changes include the use of generalized terms for GMDSS technologies, consolidation of provisions for various communication equipment, and updates to the sea area coverage. The amendments aim to enhance the efficiency and reliability of maritime distress and safety communications.
Watertight Integrity and Doors on Cargo Ships
Amendments to SOLAS Chapter II-1 reinforce the requirements for watertight integrity, capturing the probabilistic damage stability approach. Additionally, harmonization efforts address the inconsistencies regarding the consideration of watertight doors in damage stability calculations, impacting new cargo and passenger ships constructed on or after January 1, 2024.
Fault Isolation of Fire Detection Systems
The amendments adjust the requirements for fire detection systems, allowing for more practical and efficient fault isolation measures on cargo ships and passenger ship balconies. This change, effective from January 1, 2024, aims to enhance fire safety by ensuring the operational integrity of fire detection systems.
Life-Saving Appliances
Updates to the Life-Saving Appliances (LSA) Code include practical adjustments to the launching appliance requirements for rescue boats, launch testing for free-fall lifeboats, and the equipment of lifeboats with independent propulsion systems. These amendments cater to the operational realities and safety standards of modern ships.
Ships Using LNG as Fuel
Reflecting the growing adoption of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) as a marine fuel, amendments to the International Code for Safety for Ships Using Gases or Other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code) address cofferdams for fire protection, fuel distribution, and fire-extinguishing systems. These changes aim to bolster the safety framework for ships utilizing LNG and other green fuels.
Ballast Water Management Changes of 2024
The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, known as the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention, represents a pivotal step toward preventing the spread of invasive aquatic species through ships’ ballast water. Initially adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2004, the Convention mandates two standards for ballast water management – D1 and D2.
Ballast Water Requirements from 2024 – Are you ready for changes?
The D1 standard, requiring ships to exchange their ballast water in open seas to minimize the risk of transferring harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens, laid the groundwork for a more sustainable approach to ballast water management. However, the more stringent D2 standard, set to take full effect on September 8, 2024, necessitates the use of an approved ballast water treatment system to ensure that water discharged meets specific organism viability standards. Specifically, the D2 standard limits the concentration of viable organisms to less than 10 per cubic meter for organisms larger than or equal to 50 micrometers and less than 10 per milliliter for those between 10 and 50 micrometers. Additionally, it sets maximum allowable concentrations for certain bacteria.
As of the end of 2023, a significant number of vessels were yet to retrofit the required D2 compliant systems, hinting at potential challenges in meeting the looming 2024 deadline. Ships built after 2017 are already required to carry a BWM D-2 Certificate confirming the installation and testing of an approved ballast water treatment system. Those constructed before 2017 must have complied with the D1 standard but are expected to retrofit D2 compliant systems by the September 2024 deadline.
How alteration to D2 Standards will effect the ship operations?
The alteration to D2 standards under the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (BWM Convention), introduces stringent requirements for ballast water management that significantly impact ship operation times. Specifically, the D2 standard necessitates the use of approved ballast water treatment systems to ensure that discharged ballast water meets specific biological standards. This standard mandates that ships discharge ballast water with fewer than ten viable organisms per cubic meter greater than or equal to 50 micrometers in minimum dimension, among other criteria.
The implementation of the D2 standard, compared to the earlier D1 standard which mainly required ballast water exchange at sea, could potentially increase the time of operations for several reasons. Firstly, the requirement for onboard treatment systems means ships must now treat ballast water before discharging, which adds an additional step to the process. Secondly, the time taken to treat ballast water can vary depending on the capacity and speed of the treatment system installed. Moreover, the complexity and maintenance needs of these treatment systems might also result in operational delays, particularly if systems malfunction or require frequent calibration.