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SOLAS
The
SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most
important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant
ships. The first version was adopted in 1914, in response to the Titanic
disaster, the second in 1929, the third in 1948 and the fourth in 1960.
The 1960 Convention - which was adopted on 17 June 1960 and entered
into force on 26 May 1965 - was the first major task for IMO after the
Organization's creation and it represented a considerable step forward in
modernizing regulations and in keeping pace with technical developments in
the shipping industry.
The intention was to keep the Convention up to date by periodic amendments
but in practice the amendments procedure incorporated proved to be very
slow. It became clear that it would be impossible to secure the entry into
force of amendments within a reasonable period of time.
As a result, a completely new Convention was adopted in 1974 which
included not only the amendments agreed up until that date but a new
amendment procedure - the tacit acceptance procedure - designed to ensure
that changes could be made within a specified (and acceptably short)
period of time.
Instead of requiring that an amendment shall enter into force after being
accepted by, for example, two thirds of the Parties, the tacit acceptance
procedure provides that an amendment shall enter into force on a specified
date unless, before that date, objections to the amendment are received
from an agreed number of Parties.
As a result the 1974 Convention has been updated and amended on numerous
occasions. The Convention in force today is sometimes referred to as SOLAS,
1974, as amended.
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