《极地水域航行准则》即将出台

A Polar Code for Safe Passage

随着国际海事组织官员通过《极地水域航行准则》草案，南北极水域航行安全问题又向前推进了一步。

Maritime offi cials draft standards for vessels operating in Arctic and Antarctic waters.The path to safer shipping through Arctic and Antarctic waters took a step forward when offi cials at the International Maritime Organization agreed on a draft text for a so-called Polar Code. The agreement in principle, reached at an IMO meeting in London last month, is raising hopes that the long-awaited code will get fi nal approval by the U.N.'s maritime agency by the end of 2014 and enter into force by 2016 or 2017. The draft document, agreed to by the IMO's Ship Design and Construction Committee, covers the design and construction standards for ships—such as ice-strengthened hulls—safety equipment, training of seafarers, search and rescue and 'the protection of the unique environment and ecosystems of the polar regions.' The committee also agreed in principle to proposed draft amendments to the IMO's safety and pollution prevention treaties to make the code mandatory. It was agreed that all ships operating in polar waters should have a Polar Ship Certifi cate and a Polar Water Operational Manual. Officials also signed off on a definition of different categories of ships to be covered by the code. The IMO's influential Maritime Safety Committee will take up the draft text at its meeting in London in May. The Polar Code likely will become legally binding as an amendment to the International Convention of Pollution for Ships and the Safety of Life at Sea Convention.