Marine Regulations & Guides

The present OCIMF publication starts with a brief historical overview of the programme which was worked out and implemented by OCIMF some decades ago with the sole intention to provide all the members of this organization with the opportunity to release and submit the ship inspection reports for distribution. The participation in the subject programme is fully voluntary.

Two revisions were made to this programme in 1997 and 2007 years and they have also been dealt with within the paper, together with the procedure for the uniform vessel inspection. The second section of the book contains the questionnaires to be used during the vessel inspections, as well as the inspector manuals. The third section is mainly dedicated to the VIQ, standing for the "vessel inspection questionnaire", and its availability to ship operators.

The remaining sections cover the conduct of inspections, distribution of the reports, some general notes, certification and associated documentation, management of the ship's crew, ship navigation issues, safety management, prevention of the marine pollution, cargo handling/ballasting systems of the vessel - petroleum/chemical/gas, mooring arrangements, communication, machinery and steering compartments of the vessel, general appearance and technical condition of the ship. All information that has been provided in the present publication was verified to be fully up-to-date and definitely practical.

Another official MCA release, this one containing the provisions of the Code of Practice related to the stowage and securing of the vehicles carried on board of the ro-ro vessels. The authors of the present Code have consulted the HSE executive responsible for enforcing the associated Docks Regulations together with all other shore-based regulations, in the course of preparation of the document.

The experience that have been collected in operating the ro-ro vessels has enabled the IMO to develop the relevant technical standards with the ultimate intention to improve the safety of ro-ro transportation. This volume includes the standards that have been developed by the IMO and provides required technical guidance and information covering the established and proven safe procedures that shall be followed at the time of the roll-on and roll-off operations; when followed, these procedures will significantly reduce the risks to the people and vessels associated with subject operations.

The book is arranged in eight sections covering the principal sources of danger on board, personnel safety, vehicle decks and ramps, associated lifting appliances, suitability of the vehicles for sea transportation, stowage/securing of transported vehicles, specialized cargoes and vehicles, CSM (i.e. cargo securing manual), and related publications plus three annexes...

Refrigerated goods have also been considered invariably perishable and that is one of the main reasons why their safe transportation will always be dependent on proper maintaining of the required carriage conditions of storage during the carriage. Actually, this is true for literally all cargoes and modes of transportation, though the conditions are seriously more critical for longer journeys. Refrigerated goods usually include both the chilled and frozen cargoes.

The chilled ones include fresh vegetables and fruits. Frozen products would not typically suffer in case of the over-cooling, while the chilled products could easily get damaged by the low temperatures. The final success and effectiveness of the whole marine transportation would mainly depend on thorough following the proper carriage instructions defining the conditions in which such types of cargo should be transported.

The valuable technical recommendations provided in the present document were drawn-up in order to provide the required assistance to both carriers and shippers in order to assess their transportation instructions with the final aim to improve the operation of the transport chains. Firstly, the general applicable requirements have been considered; this one is followed by the sections dedicated to the containerized goods and shipments that are undertaken by means of the reefer vessels...​​

The regulatory documentation included in this pack of papers was prepared and issued by the US Department of Transportation - USCG. NavRules International/Inland as of July 2013. The publication contains Introduction, Legal Citations, Conversion Table, Navigation Rules, Interpretative Rules, Demarcation Lines in accordance with the COLREGs, Penalty Provisions, Waters that have been specified by the Secretary, Alternative Compliance, Regulations on Vessel BTB (Bridge-to-bridge) Radiotelephone Communications, possible Exemptions from the certain provisions of these Rules that can be granted, various Navigational equipment including lights, shapes and signaling equipment. Demarcation Lines as per ColRegs have also been addressed.

This set of USCG Rules have been separately marked in order to demonstrate the existing differencies between the United States Inland and the International versions of these Rulebooks by means of the four different color codes, namely yellow, orange, blue, and green - the explanation on the use of the colors is there on the first pages of the book. The publication was released by Star Path School of Navigation.

And, we would highly recommend this set of books because of the second file containing the above mentioned Rules supplemented with the valuable descriptive annotations that have been provided by the maritime professionals that will be of particular use to the people having any sort of difficulties with understanding and feeling the spirit of the Rules.

This is the pack of regulatory documentation released by the USCG and consisting of two separate volumes addressing the Navigation Rules and Regulations. It contains both the Inland and International USCG-issued "Rules of the Road" together with their respective Annexes, regulations concerning the VTM (Vessel Traffic Management) and Bridge-to-bridge Radiotelephone Communications, together with all other relevant regulations for the waterway users. Effective date is 22 November 2014.

The second file contained in this pack is a Corrigendum, and it contains corrections, deletions, and also the insertions that are to be done to the Handbook. Such notes are denoted a black bold type. The publication starts with the legal citations followed by the conversion table. The main content of this document has been arranged in several subparts. The first one titled "General" will describe the application of this Rulebook and outline the responsibilities of all parties involved; moreover, it will list the general definitions used.

The other subparts address the sailing and steering rules, navigation lights/shapes, sound signals, light signals, exemptions from the requirements, penalty provisions, instructions on proper implementation of the rules, general operation of the ships, traffic management and other valuable relevant information.

The present booklet is dealing with the sea rescue and is intended to provide the marine industry with the required guidance concerning the main principles and established practice applied to the refugees and migrants. Nowadays, sea-borne refugees and migrants shall not be considered as a sort of a new phenomenon.

People have always and everywhere risked their lives sailing aboard the ships that were not seaworthy enough or using other crafts that could not provide the required level of safety. The SAR - standing for the search and rescue - services allover the world depend on vessels, mostly merchant, in order to be able to assist people in distress. Today, the signals of distress can be transmitted by means of the satellite as well as terrestrial types of communication both to the vessels in immediate vicinity and to the SAR authorities located ashore.

This would allow the rescue operation to go smoothly and well-coordinated. This document was worked out by the IMO together with the UNHCR and is intended to provide all interested people, including crew members, owners, masters, insurance companies, government authorities, flag administration and PSC officers and others, with the guidelines addressing the legal provisions and procedures in order to ensure that the disembarkation of the rescued human goes smooth, and to propose effective measures to meet all specific needs of the survivors...

For years, fatigue has been treated as one of the most serious factors historically contributing to the vast majority of incidents occurring in the maritime industry. In the attempt to get the fatigue minimized, the appropriate legislation addressing the regulating of the hours of work/rest of the seafarers has been there and is duly controlled and thoroughly monitored to ensure their strict compliance with Flag Authorities legislation that are being enforced by means of the established PSC procedures.

But is should also be noted as necessary that the overall enforcement measures were relatively ineffective. The present official paper has been developed with the intention of its authors to highlight the key areas of concern  related to the potential uncertainties plus various different interpretations of the requirements contained in the relevant international conventions.

Moreover, the authors of the volume have also considered the minimum industry expectations in order to provide the proper compliance with all relevant technical recommendations and provisions provided to keep all members of the OCIMF organization together with the ship managers ashore and ship crew members duly updated. The recommendations cover the legislative background, recommendations and possible ambiguities of UIs, with the separate chapter being dedicated to the further recommendations relating to the practical compliance.​

Very short publication released by ISF and ICS describing the major points of CMI (Comite Maritime International) campaign of promoting maritime treaty ratification. ICS is the association representing all trades and sectors of the shipping industry. In turn, ISF is the international organization for maritime employers. The CMI was established in Antwerp, Belgium more than a century ago, in 1897, and it is an international association of maritime lawyers.

Both ISF and ICS continually emphasize to their respective governments that the international maritime industry of today is seriously dependent on a global regulatory system to operate efficiently. And now, this endeavor is supported by CMI, as well. The three above stated organizations respected and recognized in the world of shipping, will now jointly assist the countries where the ratification of the major Conventions has been limited.

And the main purpose of the present brochure is to reiterate the main reasons standing behind this campaign and also to provide the shipping industry with a good and timely update on the very latest developments that would play a role. It is to highlight the particular Conventions considered by these three organizations as the most important for the governments of the above stated countries to be ratifies as a priority...