Guidelines on voyage planning for passenger ships operating in remote areas
THE ASSEMBLY,
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 and the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships,
RECALLING ALSO regulation 6 of chapter V of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as amended, on the Ice Patrol Service, including the Appendix to chapter V on Rules for the management, operation and financing of the North Atlantic Ice Patrol,
RECALLING FURTHER resolution A.893(21) on Guidelines for voyage planning,
NOTING that the Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventy-third session, agreed to enhance the safety of passenger ships from a holistic perspective, including consideration of concerns related to operations in remote areas,
NOTING ALSO that the Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventy-sixth session, and the Marine Environment Protection Committee, at its forty-eighth session, approved the “Guidelines for ships operating in Arctic ice-covered waters”, which were subsequently issued as MSC/Circ.1056 - MEPC/Circ.399,
RECOGNIZING the need to develop guidelines to supplement resolution A.893(21), particularly for passenger ships operating in remote areas, in order to prevent incidents of groundings and collisions, and thereby enhance safety of life at sea,
HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its eighty-first session:
1. ADOPTS the “Guidelines on voyage planning for passenger ships operating in remote areas”, set out in the annex to the present resolution;
2. INVITES Governments to bring the annexed guidelines to the attention of masters of ships entitled to fly the flag of their States, shipowners, ship operators and managers, shipping companies, maritime pilots, training institutions, tour operators, ice-patrol and ice-breaking services and all other parties concerned, for information and action as appropriate;
3. REQUESTS the Maritime Safety Committee to keep the above-mentioned guidelines under review and to amend them as appropriate.