IMO SOLAS 2020 Consolidated EditionView all products in IMO Maritime Safety

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is an international maritime safety treaty.

It ensures that ships flagged by signatory States comply with minimum safety standards in construction, equipment and operation.

In its successive forms, the SOLAS Convention is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning merchant ships' safety. It covers a wide range of measures designed to improve the safety of shipping.

Also, it is one of the oldest of its kind: the first version was adopted in 1914 following the Titanic sinking with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. Since then, there have been four more versions of SOLAS. The present version was adopted in 1974 and entered into force in 1980.

All SOLAS requirements applicable from 1 July 2009, this 2020 edition presents a consolidated text of the SOLAS Convention, its Protocols of 1978 and 1988 and all amendments in effect from that date.

The fully updated edition features several new SOLAS regulations, adopted after the last consolidated edition of the Convention was published. Of these, particular attention is drawn to regulation V/19-1 on long-range identification and tracking of ships (LRIT), regulation II-1/3-8 on mooring and towing equipment and regulation II-1/35-1 on bilge pumping arrangements.

The SOLAS provisions for corrosion protection have been updated and expanded and the new requirements are incorporated in chapter II-1. Furthermore, chapter II- 1 was comprehensively revised to include probabilistic requirements for subdivision and damage stability and now also has a new Part F concerning alternative designs and arrangements.

The annex to the Convention regarding the SOLAS forms of certificates contains the fully revised safety certificates for nuclear passenger and cargo ships. The list of certificates and documents required to be carried on board ships, as revised, is also added.

The SOLAS Consolidated Edition 2020 is an essential reference for maritime administrations, ship manufacturers, owners and operators, shipping companies, education institutes and all others concerned with requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.