1 The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), 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 Subsequently, the SLF Sub-Committee, at its
forty-sixth session (8 to 12 September 2003), prepared draft SOLAS
amendments to address the stability issues on bulk carriers of less
than 150 m in length, and at its forty-seventh session (13 to 17 September
2004), prepared the Guidelines on the provision of stability-related
information for bulk carriers, for all new bulk carriers.
3 The Maritime Safety Committee, at its eightieth
session (11 to 20 May 2005), following the recommendation of SLF 47,
approved the Guidelines on the provision of stability-related information
for bulk carriers, as set out in the annex.
4 Member Governments are invited to bring the
annexed Guidelines to the attention of stability instrument manufacturers,
related computer software developers, mariners, dry cargo terminal
operators and other parties involved in cargo operations.