1 The Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventy-sixth
session (2 to 13 December 2002), having considered the results of
various FSA studies on bulk carrier safety, agreed that the risk control
option calling for the provision of detailed, comprehensive and user-friendly
information covering stability and strength characteristics of the
ship’s hull during loading and unloading should be applied to
new bulk carriers. Furthermore, MSC 76 noted that the above-mentioned
risk control option was more relevant for smaller ships with respect
to stability and for larger ships with respect to structural strength,
and instructed the Sub-Committee on Stability and Load Lines and on
Fishing Vessels Safety (SLF) and the Sub-Committee on Ship Design
and Equipment (DE) to develop relevant guidelines.
2 The DE Sub-Committee, at its forty-seventh session
(25 February to 5 March 2004), noting that the SLF Sub-Committee,
at its forty-sixth session (8 to 12 September 2003), had prepared
draft SOLAS amendments to address the stability
issues on bulk carriers of less than 150 m in length, agreed that
for bulk carriers of 150 m in length and above, user-friendly guidelines
for assessing the longitudinal strength would be more appropriate.
3 The Maritime Safety Committee, at its [seventy-eighth
session (12 to 21 May 2004)], following the recommendation of DE 47,
approved the Guidelines for assessing the longitudinal strength of
bulk carriers during loading, unloading and ballast water exchange,
set out in the annex.
4 Member Governments are invited to bring the
annexed Guidelines to the attention of loading instrument manufacturers,
related computer software developers, mariners, dry cargo terminal
operators and other parties involved in loading, unloading and ballast
water exchange operations.