SOLAS - International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea

Category

IMO Conventions

Format

Official text on the issuing body’s site

Listed

13 November 2025

Access

Free

The terms this document rests on, as the glossary and the dictionary define them.

The live desks on The Maritime read alongside this instrument.

• SOLAS Chapter II-2 - Fire Protection, Detection and Extinction

  Detailed requirements for fire protection including structural fire protection, escape routes, fire detection systems, and fixed fire-extinguishing systems for various ship types.

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• SOLAS Chapter III - Life-Saving Appliances and Arrangements

  Requirements for lifeboats, liferafts, rescue boats, personal life-saving appliances, and survival craft.

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• SOLAS Chapter IX - Management for Safe Operation (ISM)

  Makes the ISM Code mandatory, requiring companies and ships to establish and maintain a Safety Management System.

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• SOLAS Chapter V - Safety of Navigation

  Covers navigational equipment requirements including AIS, VDR, ECDIS, radar, and GMDSS.

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• SOLAS Chapter XI-2 - Special Measures to Enhance Maritime Security

  Makes the ISPS Code mandatory and includes special requirements for ship security.

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• Ballast Water Management Convention

  Aims to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another by establishing standards and procedures for the management and control of ships' ballast water and sediments.

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• CII - Carbon Intensity Indicator Guidelines

  Guidelines for calculating the attained annual operational carbon intensity indicator (CII) and CII rating.

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• COLREGS - Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea

  Sets out the navigation rules to be followed by ships at sea to prevent collisions.

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• EEXI - Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index Technical File

  Technical guidelines for the calculation of the attained Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) for ships of 400 GT and above.

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• Hong Kong Convention - Ship Recycling

  Aimed at ensuring that ships being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives do not pose any unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment.

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• IMO GHG Strategy - Initial Strategy Overview

  Overview of the IMO initial strategy to reduce GHG emissions from ships by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels, with a vision to phase them out entirely.

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