Marine Regulations & Guides

Another MCA publication setting out a standard governing every aspect of PMS, i.e. port marine safety, and aiming to enhance marine safety for the people using or working in the port environment. The content shall be considered applicable to all harbor authorities and other facilities in the UK.

The present Code, accompanied with the Guide to Good Practice also available at our site, is intended to play a critical instrumental role in achieving and maintaining good safety record in all British ports and harbors, through a pragmatic and reasonably proportionate approach to the established safety standards enabling all people involved to apply the principles stated in it.

All organizations and facilities not being statutory harbor authorities, including marinas, berths and terminals, are highly recommended to seek compliance with the requirements of the Code, adopting their marine SMS and underpinning this with a risk assessment conducted in a formal way.

Note that the Code is supported by the UK government and treated as the efficient and effective was to maintain and promote nationally recognized standards of marine port safety. Covering literally all major aspects of marine port safety, the Code together with the Guide mentioned above, is a must-have volume for all persons involved.

This guide is a signature documents as well as the info source for all members of the IALA, continuing the traditions and seeing it duly updated with the recent developments and achievements related to the marine aids of navigational technologies and their practical application. The content of the volume is a result of the years of close collaboration of the recognized experts.

The book is intended to play a major role in the info suite of IALA and shall be treated as a main information source for the marine aids practitioners everywhere in the world, and one of the primary guidance documents. The publication has already been translated into many languages of the world in order to be used in the regions where English is not a primary speaking language. The readers are encouraged to consult the associated IALA website I order to get the useful information reference to assist in performing their everyday activities, as they will find everything they need there.

The book opens with the general information on IALA-AISM followed by the chapter on the main concept and accuracy of marine navigation, operation requirements etc. the electronic navigation aids and VTS are addressed separately. Same applied to the power supplies, as well as the provision, management, design etc.

The Athens Convention on Passengers and Their Luggage was adopted in 1974 in Greece with subsequent entering into force in 1987. The provisions of the subject convention are considered applicable to all international carriage if the vessel flies the flag or has been registered in a state that is a party to the convention, or if the contract for transportation includes such state, or the place of destination/departure, as per the above mentioned contract, is in a state that is a party.

Here, the term “international carriage” means the transportation in which, as per the carriage contract, the places of destination and departure of the vessel, represent different states or in a single state, provided that the intermediate port is in place. The carriers are considered as bearing the liability for any damage that has been suffered as a result from a personal injury or death of the passenger and/or loss of the luggage or its damage that has taken place because of either fault or the neglect of the carrier…

The publication is a must-know for all people dealing with the maritime transportation of people since it plays a core role in provision of the subject services within the appropriate regulatory framework.

This is the official publication by the International Maritime Organization. The text of the subject Convention is preceded by the text of the Final Act as stated in the title of the document. These two parts make the main portion of the publication. There are three attachments to the main part.

The first attachment provides clarification on the Articles 13 and 14 of the Convention, and the second one contains the resolution related to the York-Antwerp Rules. Finally, the closing part of the book deals with the international cooperation for the purpose of effective implementation of the provisions of the Convention. In the text of this document, the term salvage shall be understood as the activity that is taking place to provide assistance to a ship of other facility being in danger at sea.

This and other important terms are explained in the first article of the Convention. The second article provides information on the application of the Convention; it shall be noted that it is not applicable to the offshore facilities, such as the mobile drilling units and platforms. The publication shall be read and understood by everyone engaged in the maritime shipping industry of today, as necessary. 

Here is the set of four books containing the radio regulations. The first book contains the articles released by the ITU and provides information about the terminology, technical characteristics, interferences and frequencies, provisions for the radio stations and associated services, including administrative ones, maritime and aeronautical services, communications, frequency assignments etc.

The second volume deals with the numerous appendices, such as those on emission classification, harmful interference reports, figure code, system specifications, calculation methods and so many others. The third volume addresses the relevant resolutions and recommendations, including the notification of frequency assignments, equitable use of the orbits, radio-frequency management, personal application of the global satellite systems, cooperation and technical assistance of the countries in the field of radio and satellite communication, unauthorized uplink transmissions etc.

Finally, the fourth volume contains the recommendations incorporated by reference, including but not limited to standard frequency and time-signal emissions, calculating free-space attenuation, protection criteria for the related measurements, propagation by diffraction, established radiotelephony procedures and others.

This IMO publication is dealing with the oil spill responses. Even despite a huge number of guidelines and manuals available today on the subject matter, they mostly cover the arctic and temperate waters. The present publication will be beneficial to the people involved in responding to the oil spills that occur in the tropical areas. The information is intended to be applied when preparing the appropriate response strategies.

The idea is to provide them with the necessary info and instructions on the necessary response measure and what should be avoided in such cases. There is some supplementary information included, for example relevant techniques, fate of the oil spilled, marine habitats etc. all of the principles described in this publications have been worked out on the basis of the real life case studies as well as the results of the experiments reported earlier.

Since each spill features its particular characteristics, the information contained in the book shall be treated as guidance and not strict must-follow instructions, and due and reasonable flexibility shall be maintained at all times. The content covers the initial procedures, response actions, and all materials and equipment used.

The content of the present Code of Conduct was developed by the several internationally recognized entities equally respected in the world of the maritime shipping, and was approved by the MCA, standing for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Make sure you get yourself fully familiarized with the document. The Code is intended to set out the most important disciplinary rules as well as the established procedures applying when employing to work on the vessel.

The seafaring is commonly referred to as the occupation imposing certain requirements on the mariners, ones you would hardly find on any land-based works. For example, the seafarers normally spend their time in the enclosed environment, sharing this confined space with the others, and this makes them a bit more vulnerable to all stresses that the everyday life causes to the people working ashore.

Well, and this is where and when the good behavior and due discipline become of particular importance, directly affecting the living and working atmosphere. The main idea of the authors of the present Code was to set out the rules that would clearly reflect the behavioral standards; the compliance with the subject standards is expected from all people on board ship.

The IMO introduced and adopted numerous safety measures that were designed in order to improve the bulk carrier safety, and that was after so many incidents had taken place, some of which involving total loss of the ships and even human lives. The subject measures included the important requirements intended to improve the overall strength as well as the technical maintenance of the bulk carriers, provided necessary guidance for inspecting these vessels during their stay at terminals, etc.

In addition to that, they covered the entire process of loading and discharging of the bulk cargo. All of the requirements have been reflected in the present Code which is considered to be of utmost importance for the safety of bulk carrier operation, due to the comprehensive coverage of all aspects. The publication will give a pragmatic and true framework for the risk management; note that the grain cargo is not covered.

The topics addressed include the transfer of the cargoes, handling the ballast, ship-shore interaction procedures and many others. The content was developed based on the valuable contributions provided by the ship owners, terminal operators and several other parties involved.