NEW IMO MANNING REGULATIONS TOOK EFFECT JAN. 1, 2014
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NEW IMO MANNING REGULATIONS TOOK EFFECT JAN. 1, 2014
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted revised guidelines covering the process for establishing manning levels in a “Principles of Minimum Safe Manning” resolution (A.1047 (27)) that became effective Jan. 1. In a companion move, the IMO amended the SOLAS Convention in Chapter V, Regulation 14, to require flag States to take the principles in the resolution into account in a transparent procedure when issuing Safe Manning Documents.
The new approach focuses on the actual operational manning levels needed to safely operate the ship under all conditions rather than just the minimum number of crew needed to navigate the ship from point A to point B. To establish minimum manning levels, among the many factors that now need to be taken into account--in addition to watchkeeping--are type of ship and its trading area, degree of automation, degree of shore-side support, who does the maintenance, frequency of port calls, mooring and unmooring, length and nature of voyages, onboard training activities, implementation of ship’s security plan, planning, monitoring, loading, stowage, securing and care of cargo, administrative tasks, and the personnel required to meet peak workload situations and conditions within applicable work hour limits and/or rest requirements.
The company now has a responsibility to make an assessment of the tasks, duties and responsibilities required of the ship’s complement and propose to the flag State administration how it will man and operate the ship within the new principles of minimum safe manning and ensure that the hours of work/rest are implemented. If there is a change in trading area, construction, machinery, equipment, operation and maintenance or management of the ship which may affect safe manning, the company is required to submit a new manning proposal. If a ship persistently fails to be in compliance with the rest hour requirements, its Safe Manning Document may be withdrawn.
The new IMO regulations provide a framework to determine manning levels based on an analysis of required operational functions and factors, task capabilities and workload assessment to determine if workload will remain within the minimum hours of work/rest provided by national or international regulations.
It remains to be seen how the U.S. Coast Guard, as the administration for U.S.-flag ships, will conform U.S. regulations to implement the new international requirements. A copy of IMO Resolution A.1047 (27) and the text of the amended SOLAS Chapter V, Regulations 14-Manning will be posted on the MM&P website.
ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION A.1047(27)
PRINCIPLES OF MINIMUM SAFE MANNING
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 Article 28(a) of that Convention which requires the Maritime Safety
Committee to consider, inter alia, the manning of seagoing ships from a safety standpoint,
NOTING that safe manning is a function of the number of qualified and experienced seafarers necessary for the safety and security of the ship, crew, passengers, cargo and property and for the protection of the marine environment,
RECOGNIZING the importance of the requirements of the pertinent IMO instruments as well as those adopted by ILO, ITU and WHO relevant to maritime safety and protection of the marine environment,
MINDFUL of the provisions of SOLAS regulation V/14, as amended, with respect to the issue of an appropriate safe manning document or equivalent as evidence of minimum safe manning,
ALSO MINDFUL of the provisions of SOLAS chapter XI-2 and the International Ship and Port
Facility Security (ISPS) Code relating to the security of ships and port facilities,
BEING AWARE that the ability of seafarers to maintain observance of these requirements is dependent upon their continued efficiency through conditions relating to training, hours of work and rest, occupational safety, health and hygiene and the proper provision of food,
BELIEVING that international acceptance of broad principles as a framework for administrations to determine the safe manning of ships would materially enhance maritime safety, security and protection of the marine environment,
HAVING CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its eighty-eighth session,
1. ADOPTS the Principles of minimum safe manning, consisting of the Guidelines for the application of principles of safe manning, the Guidelines for determination of minimum safe manning, the Responsibilities in the application of principles of minimum safe manning, the Guidance on contents and model form of minimum safe manning document and the Framework for determining minimum safe manning, set out respectively in Annexes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to the present resolution;
2. RECOMMENDS that Governments, in establishing the minimum safe manning for ships flying their countries' flag, observe the Principles set out in Annex 1 and the procedures as set out in Annex 5 and take into account the Guidelines set out in Annexes 2 and 3;
3. URGES Governments to ensure that minimum safe manning documents contain, as a minimum, the information set out in Annex 4;
4. URGES FURTHER Governments, when exercising port State control functions under international conventions in force with respect to foreign ships visiting their ports, to regard compliance with the minimum safe manning documents as evidence that such ships are safely manned;
5. REQUESTS the Maritime Safety Committee to keep this resolution under review;
6. REVOKES resolutions A.890(21) and A.955(23).