Foreword
Introduction
1 The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, currently in force,
was adopted on 1 November 1974 by the International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea, which
was convened by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and entered into force on
25 May 1980. It has since been amended twice by means of protocols:
.1 by the Protocol adopted on 17 February 1978 by the International Conference on
Tanker Safety and Pollution Prevention (1978 SOLAS Protocol), which entered into
force on 1 May 1981; and
.2 by the Protocol adopted on 11 November 1988 by the International Conference on the
Harmonized System of Survey and Certification (1988 SOLAS Protocol), which
entered into force on 3 February 2000 and replaced and abrogated the 1978 Protocol, as
between Parties to the 1988 Protocol.
2 In addition, the 1974 SOLAS Convention has been amended by means of resolutions
adopted either by IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in its expanded form specified in
SOLAS article VIII or by Conferences of SOLAS Contracting Governments, also specified in
article VIII, as follows:
.1 by the 1981 amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.1(XLV) and entered
into force on 1 September 1984;
.2 by the 1983 amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.6(48) and entered
into force on 1 July 1986;
.3 by the April 1988 amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.11(55) and
entered into force on 22 October 1989;
.4 by the October 1988 amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.12(56) and
entered into force on 29 April 1990;
.5 by the November 1988 amendments, which were adopted by resolution 1 of the
Conference of Contracting Governments to SOLAS, 1974, on the Global Maritime
Distress and Safety System and entered into force on 1 February 1992;
.6 by the 1989 amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.13(57) and entered
into force on 1 February 1992;
.7 by the 1990 amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.19(58) and entered
into force on 1 February 1992;
.8 by the 1991 amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.22(59) and entered
into force on 1 January 1994;
.9 by the April 1992 amendments, which were adopted by resolutions MSC.24(60) and
MSC.26(60) and entered into force on 1 October 1994;
.10 by the December 1992 amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.27(61)
and entered into force on 1 October 1994;
.11 by the May 1994 amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.31(63) and
entered into force on 1 January 1996 (annex 1) and on 1 July 1998 (annex 2);
.12 by the May 1994 amendments, which were adopted by resolution 1 of the Conference
of Contracting Governments to SOLAS, 1974, which entered into force on
1 January 1996 (annex 1) and on 1 July 1998 (annex 2);
.13 by the December 1994 amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.42(64)
and entered into force on 1 July 1996;
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