Qatar is the 111th State to accede to the International Convention on Load Lines (1988 Protocol) – an important IMO ship safety treaty. Limitations on the draught to which a ship may be loaded make a significant contribution to the ship's safety. These limits are given in the form of freeboards, which, together with external weathertight and watertight integrity, is the main objective of the Convention. Measures under the treaty take into account the potential hazards present in different zones and different seasons.
The 1988 Protocol updates and revises the earlier treaty. The technical annex contains several additional safety measures concerning doors, freeing ports, hatchways and other items. These measures help to ensure the watertight integrity of ships' hulls below the freeboard deck. All assigned load lines must be marked amidships on each side of the ship, together with the deck line.
Mr. Mohamed Abdulla Al-Jabir, Deputy Ambassador, met IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim at IMO Headquarters in London (15 January) to deposit the instrument of accession. The Protocol's signatories now represent more than 97% of world merchant shipping tonnage.