IMO calls for increased damage stability of cargo and passenger vessels

The International Maritime Organization has resolved to step up protection of new cargo and passenger vessels in the case of accident at Hamburg.

Accordingly, all new vessels built from 1 January 2009 will be governed by new technical design regulations to ensure a higher level of stability in a damaged state. In the recently revised SOLAS regulations, the previous concept of risk assessment has been extended. On the basis of current average statistics, IMO saw itself obliged to devise a better method of assessing the residual stability of damaged vessels. This now applies not only to cargo vessels, but also to passenger vessels. The new regulations clearly stipulate that these vessels must have a double bottom that extends over their entire breadth. Vessel designs without a double bottom are only permitted if a comparable level of safety in the event of grounding is proven by means of additional calculations. No exceptions apply to lubricating oil circulation tanks arranged under the main engine. With regard to their arrangement, it is important that a minimum distance of 500mm to the keel line of the vessel is always ensured. The specification in the new SOLAS 2009 regulations has been agreed in order to prevent lubricating oils from escaping or the engine from sucking up seawater in the event of a vessel striking the ground. The IMO committees have been working since 2005 on improving the technical protective measures with regard to damage stability. The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is a UN convention governing ship safety. The convention creates international minimum standards on merchant vessels and stipulates binding rules governing all conceivable preventive measures.
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