IMO agrees draft amendments to survey requirements

The code provides requirements for renewal, annual and intermediate surveys of the cargo and ballast areas of oil tankers and bulk carriers and covers preparations for surveys, documentation on board, procedures for thickness measurements, acceptance criteria and reporting and evaluation of surveys.

It became mandatory under SOLAS regulation XI-1/2. Parts A and B of annex A provide the requirements for bulk carriers with single-side skin and double-side skin construction respectively. Parts A and B of annex B provide the requirements for oil tankers with double-hull and non-double-hull construction respectively. In order to provide an easy-to-use Code, IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee agreed that the Code should be closely aligned with the IACS Unified Requirements (UR) Z10 (Hull surveys).

The amendments agreed at SDC 8 include:

For bulk carriers, ballast tanks to be examined annually if the protective coating condition is found to be “less than GOOD”. Double-skin void spaces bounding cargo holds in bulk carriers exceeding 20 years of age and 150 metres in length are to be examined annually if the protective coating is found to be in “POOR” condition. There are also new requirements for the annual survey of double-skin void spaces, when required, for bulk carriers exceeding 20 years of age and 150 metres in length.

The definition of oil tankers was amended to clarify that the ESP Code does not apply to oil tankers carrying oil in independent tanks which are not part of ship’s hull, such as asphalt carriers.

As SDC is a Sub-Committee, these developments are subject to approval by the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC). DNV recommends that its customers monitor the outcome of MSC 105 in April 2022.

DNV provides more information here.