RECALLING Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Assembly in
relation to regulations and guidelines concerning maritime safety,
RECALLING ALSO that the Maritime Safety Committee adopted,
on 10 April 1992, Resolution MSC.24(60) and, on 11 December 1992,
Resolution MSC.27(61) both of which require, inter alia,
that in addition to the emergency lighting required by SOLAS regulations II-1/42 and III/11.5, the means of
escape including stairways and exits shall be marked by lighting or
photoluminescent strip indicators placed not more than 0.3 m above
the deck at all points of the escape route,
RECALLING FURTHER that the above resolutions require Administrations
to ensure that such lighting or photoluminescent equipment have been
evaluated, tested and applied in accordance with guidelines developed
by the Organization,
CONSCIOUS of the need for passengers to readily identify,
in case of emergencies, the route of escape when the normal emergency
lighting is less effective due to smoke,
BELIEVING that passenger safety, in case of fire on board,
can be greatly enhanced by the installation of a low-location lighting
system as described in the Guidelines referred to in operative paragraph
1,
HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime
Safety Committee at its sixty-second session,
1. ADOPTS the Guidelines for the Evaluation, Testing
and Application of Low-Location Lighting on Passenger Ships, set out
in the Annex to the present resolution;
2. INVITES Governments to implement these Guidelines
at the earliest possible opportunity;
3. REQUESTS the Maritime Safety Committee to keep
the Guidelines under review and to amend them as necessary in the
light of experience gained in their application.