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 resolution A.741(18) on
the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships
and Pollution Prevention (International Safety Management (ISM) Code),
RECALLING FURTHER that the Conference of Contracting Governments
to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS),
1974, adopted, on 24 May 1994, a new SOLAS
chapter IX (Management for the safe operation of ships), by
virtue of which the ISM Code is due to become mandatory for certain
classes of ship as from 1 July 1998,
BEING AWARE that the specialized operations of offshore
supply vessels may expose personnel and cargoes on board to additional
hazards,
BEARING IN MIND that a number of serious accidents have
occurred on offshore supply vessels, during cargo and person carriage
operations,
RECOGNIZING that proper practice in the operation and management
of offshore supply vessels when interfacing with offshore installations,
could avoid such accidents in the future,
HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime
Safety Committee at its sixty-sixth session,
1. ADOPTS the Code of Safe Practice for the Carriage
of Cargoes and Persons by Offshore Supply Vessels (OSV Code) set out
in the Annex to the present resolution;
2. INVITES Governments to apply the OSV Code;
3. REQUESTS the Maritime Safety Committee to keep
the OSV Code under review and to amend it, as necessary.