RECALLING Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organisation concerning the functions of the Assembly in
relation to regulations and guidelines concerning maritime safety
and the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships,
NOTING that there is increasing interest within the marine
industry in the use of materials other than steel for pipes and that
there are no specific requirements for plastic and reinforced plastic
pipes and piping systems in existing regulations,
RECOGNIZING that guidelines, covering acceptance criteria
for plastic materials in piping systems, appropriate design and installation
requirements and fire test performance criteria for assuring ship
safety, are needed to assist maritime Administrations to determine,
in a rational and uniform manner, the permitted applications for such
materials,
RECOGNIZING ALSO that the framework of the guidelines should
provide the freedom to permit the development of international and
national standards and allow the natural development of emerging technology,
HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime
Safety Committee at its sixty-first session,
1. ADOPTS the Guidelines for the application of
plastic pipes on ships, set out in the Annex to the present resolution;
2. INVITES Governments;
-
(a) to apply the Guidelines when considering the
use of plastic piping on board ships flying the flag of their State;
and
-
(b) to inform the Organisation on the development
of national standards and emerging technology on plastic piping;
3. REQUESTS the Maritime Safety Committee to keep
the Guidelines under review, and amend them as necessary.