New standards aim to make damaged ships more stable

Revised technical regulations in the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) will result in ships being more stable after accidents.

At the beginning of 2009 all new ships will be governed by new technical design regulations to ensure a higher level of stability in a damaged state, notes the classification society Germanischer Lloyd.

In recently revised SOLAS treaty, the International Maritime Organization "saw itself obliged to devise a better method of assessing the residual stability of damaged vessels," the classification society said.

This now applies not only to cargo vessels, but also to passenger vessels. The new regulations clearly stipulate that these vessels must have a double bottom that extends over their entire breadth. Vessel designs without a double bottom are only permitted if a comparable level of safety in the event of grounding is proven by means of additional calculations.

Source: American Shipper