Conference on the enhancement of safety of ships carrying passengers on non-international voyages

The Conference on the enhancement of safety of ships carrying passengers on non-international voyages, held in Manila, the Philippines (24 April) has adopted guidelines to aid the process of reducing the mounting toll of accidents involving such vessels by addressing the question of whether a ship is fit for purpose in its intended role. 

The public expects safety standards on domestic passenger ferries to be as strong as those on international vessels was a key message as IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu opened the conference. The purpose of the Conference was to draw attention to the need to enhance the safety of ships carrying passengers on non-international voyages and to consider and make recommendations in relation to a number of relating guidelines which have been developed for the purpose of expanding the already available technical assistance tools.

Although the guidelines have been developed as technical assistance tools these have also been drafted for use by governments, owners, managers, operators and masters of such ships and by designers, consultants and surveyors of the ships in question.