A summary of the decisions taken at the ninety-fourth session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC94) held from 17 to 21 November 2014 is provided as below for your information.

1. Adopted Mandatory Requirements
Mandatory requirements were adopted at MSC94 as follows:
(1) Carriage of portable atmosphere-testing instruments for enclosed spaces (SOLAS XI-1/7 and MODU Code/15) (See attachment 1, 3, 4 and 5)
The amendments to SOLAS XI-1 which newly establish regulation 7 and the amendments to MODU Codes which newly establish Chapter 15 were adopted to require the carriage of portable atmosphere-testing instruments (for oxygen, flammable gases or vapours, hydrogen sulphide and carbon monoxide) for enclosed spaces. In addition, MSC.1/Circ.1485 (See attachment 8) was approved to invite early implementation of the amendments before effective date.

Applied: on and after 1 July 2016

(2) Safety Measures of Polar Code (SOLAS XIV) (See attachment 6 and 7)
The Polar Code (new code) which specifies the requirements for the ships operating in Arctic waters and Antarctic area and the amendments to SOLAS which newly establish Chapter XIV to make the Polar Code mandatory were adopted. Please see the section 3. for more details.

Applied to: new ships keel laid on or after 1 January 2017
existing ships keel laid before 1 January 2017 shall meet the requirement by the first intermediate or renewal survey, whichever occurs first, after 1 January 2018.

(To be continued)