105 years ago, on the same day - April 15th, the World witnessed the most disastrous shipping accident of all times - The Titanic. Legendary in every sense, RMS Titanic was designed by the Irish shipbuilder William Pirrie and built in Belfast, and was thought to be the world’s fastest ship. It spanned 883 feet from stern to bow, and its hull was divided into 16 compartments that were presumed to be watertight. Titanic was presumed to be unsinkable. But, no one had thought about the damage, an iceberg could cause. Only 10% of an iceberg is seen above the water while the rest lies below it. While in the final leg of it's journey from England to New York, the luxurious cruise liner failed to change its course and damaged its hull, causing water to flood into all the compartments, eventually leading to the ship breaking in half and a human loss of 1522 passengers. This disaster has served as a lesson for the shipping fraternity which gave birth to SOLAS and International Ice Patrol. Read more about SOLAS in our exclusive post here: http://www.shmgroup.com/blog/understanding-shipping-safety-with-solas/

1. DECODING SOLAS
(SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA)
The Why, What and How of the IMO’s
most famous rulebook

2. Let’s go back 200-250 years…
When it all started..

3. Back in the 18th and 19th century when air travel was yet to
take a firm ground, travel by waterways was the only form of
international transport…
Passenger transport through ships and cruise liners was more
of a routine than a luxury, unlike what it is today…

4. ...and then Titanic happened…

5. The huge loss of life and casualties called for solution
to prevent such accidents in the future..
..and that’s when SOLAS was born

6. The Year was 1914, London England
FIRST CONVENTION
The world leaders met at a conference, to discuss
and adopt a set of regulations,
POPULARLY KNOWN AS SOLAS

7. Consists of Chapters that touch upon various
aspects of shipping safety like
NAVIGATION CONSTRUCTION RADIOTELEGRAPHY
LIFE-SAVING APPLIANCES FIRE PROTECTION
SOLAS – SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA

8. SOME IMPORTANT YEARS
2nd Convention 1929,
took force in 1933
4th Convention 1960,
took force in 1965
July, 2016
Latest Convention
3rd Convention 1948,
took force in 1952
5th Convention 1974,
took force in 1980

9. FEATURES OF SOLAS
SUPPORTED BY 162 COUNTRIES
COVERS A BROAD SET OF AREAS LIKE
SEAFARING
PASSENGER
SHIPS
CARGO TANKERS DEFENSE PATROL
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
TRANSPORT
NUCLEAR
TRANSPORT

10. HIGHLIGHTS OF SOLAS

11. CHAPTERS & WHAT THEY ENTAIL
Ch. II-2
Provision of Fire Safety Equipment in a way that it doesn’t affect other cargo
Ch. III
Under Regulation 34 of the International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code, life
saving equipment like life rafts, life boats etc. are to be made compliant with the
LSA code for the safety of the crew in times of distress

12. CHAPTERS & WHAT THEY ENTAIL
Ch. V
Navigation safety services to be provided by contracting
governments to all ships on all voyages
Ch. IV
Radio communications: This chapter entails that all the passenger and cargo
ships of 300 gr. Tonnage on international voyages are to carry a GMDSS
(Global Maritime Distress and Safety System)

13. Ch. VI
Weight Verification of Containers going on board. To be measured, checked
and verified by authorized personnel as per SOLAS guidelines
Ch. IX
Management of Safe Operation of the Ships. Entails the ship owner to
establish a safety management system that conforms to the International
Safety Management Code (ISM)
CHAPTERS & WHAT THEY ENTAIL

14. Ch. XI-2
Special Measures to Enhance Maritime Security. According to Regulation XI-2/3, under
the International Ship and Port Facilities Security Code (ISPS Code), contracting
Governments are to ensure that the port facility plans are developed, implemented
and assessed from time to time, triggering strong actions in case of default.
CHAPTERS & WHAT THEY ENTAIL

15. INCLUSION OF SAFETY APPLIANCES

16. SOLAS CONFERENCE, 1960
The importance of safety equipment, clothing and lifeboats
was stressed upon in the years after this Conference.
Amendments of 1966 and 1967
Increased focus on fire safety measures and life saving
appliances on board.
1968 – 69
Inclusion of Navigational equipment.
1969 – 73
Nautical Publications, lifebuoys and life jackets were included as an
important safety accessory on board.
1971- 73
Radio Installations, ladders and hoists were included in the list
of mandatory safety equipment.

17. LATEST INCLUSIONS OF SAFETY
APPLIANCES IN SOLAS

18. GMDSS
FIRE FIGHTING APPLIANCES
LIFE SAVING APPLIANCES
TRANSFER AND DESCENT EQUIPMENT
RADIOTELEPHONE APPARATUS
WEIGHT VERIFICATION OF CARGO

19. WHERE THINGS STAND TODAY?

20. PREPARING FOR SOLAS

21. The new regulation of SOLAS 2016 aims to increase safety at sea
All containers must be weighed before being loaded on a ship and
an estimation of the weight is not permitted from 1 July 2016
All the 171 IMO member-nations need to integrate the new
SOLAS amendment to their national law
MORE DETAILS

22. FOR A DETAILED OVERVIEW OF SOLAS
Visit
SOLAS Rules and Regulations detailed on imo.org
Check out our blog post on SOLAS

23. Please leave your questions and comments below.
Thank you!