The contracting governments,

desiring to establish the foundations and unified rules for the safety of lives at sea through mutual agreement, taking into account that the best means to achieve this goal is to conclude an Agreement that replaces the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea of 1960, in order to encompass the new factors that have arisen regarding the aforementioned convention after its adoption,

have agreed as follows:-

A- The contracting governments undertake to implement the provisions of this Agreement and its annex, which constitute an integral part thereof. Any reference to this Agreement shall also be considered a reference to its annex at the same time.

B- The contracting governments undertake to issue the necessary laws, decrees, orders, and instructions, and to take all other necessary procedures to give this Agreement full and comprehensive effectiveness, ensuring the vessel's suitability from the perspective of safety of life for the service it was prepared for.

This Agreement applies to all vessels entitled to fly the flag of the State, whose governments are considered contracting governments.

The contracting governments undertake to notify the Secretary-General of the Advisory Maritime Organization for Governments, hereinafter referred to as (the Organization), that they will deposit with him:-

• A- A list of the names of non-governmental entities authorized to act on behalf of those governments in implementing the procedures related to the safety of lives at sea, for the purpose of publication and distribution to the other contracting governments for the information of their employees.

• B- The texts of the laws, decrees, orders, and instructions issued to address the various matters falling within the scope of this Agreement.

• C- Sufficient numbers of certificates issued under the provisions of the Agreement, for the purpose of publication and distribution to the contracting governments, which in turn must inform their employees about them.

A- Any vessel not subject to the provisions of this Agreement at the time of its voyage shall not be bound by these provisions if it is forced to change its course due to adverse weather conditions or any other compelling reason.

B- Individuals present on board the vessel due to force majeure or as a result of the captain's obligation to rescue shipwrecked persons or others who are not counted as passengers when it is necessary to ensure the application of any provision of the Agreement.

A- Any contracting government, for the purpose of evacuating individuals and protecting them from threats to their lives, may authorize the transportation of a greater number of individuals on its vessels, exceeding the numbers permitted under this Agreement.

B- This Permission does not prevent other contracting governments from exercising their rights under the current Agreement to monitor such vessels if they enter their ports.

C- A notification regarding such Permission, along with an explanation of the circumstances that led to its issuance, shall be sent to the Secretary-General of the organization by the contracting government that issues such Permission.

A- This Agreement shall replace the International Agreement for the Safety of Life at Sea of 1960 signed in London on June 17, 1960, for the contracting governments - the subject of the Agreement.

B- All treaties, agreements, and procedures related to the safety of life at sea or other related subjects currently in effect between any of the governments that are parties to this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect, and their texts shall remain intact during the prescribed duration concerning:

• 1- Ships to which the provisions of this Agreement do not apply

• 2- Ships to which the provisions of this Agreement apply, with respect to the subjects explicitly stated in this Agreement.

C- In the event of a conflict between any provisions of those agreements, treaties, or procedures and the provisions of this Agreement, the texts of the current Agreement shall prevail.

D- All subjects not explicitly addressed by this Agreement shall remain subject to the local legislations of the contracting governments.

If all or some of the contracting governments agree among themselves to establish specific rules that align with the current Agreement, they must notify the organization of these rules for dissemination to all contracting governments.

A- This Agreement may be amended by any of the methods specified in the following paragraphs:

B- The amendments are studied by the organization

• 1- Proposed amendments from any of the contracting governments shall be submitted to the Secretary-General of the organization, who will circulate them to the members of the organization and all contracting governments at least six months prior to the scheduled discussion.

• 2- Any proposed amendment published in accordance with the method described above shall be referred to the Maritime Safety Committee for study.

• 3- Contracting governments, whether members of the organization or not, have the right to participate in the discussions of the Maritime Safety Committee to study and confirm these amendments.

• 4- Amendments shall be approved by a two-thirds majority of the votes of the contracting governments present and participating in the voting in the expanded Maritime Safety Committee, as stipulated in paragraph B (3) above, provided that at least one-third of the contracting governments are present during the voting.

• 5- If these amendments are approved in accordance with the provisions of paragraph B (4), the Secretary-General of the organization shall notify all contracting governments of the mentioned amendments for acceptance.

  • 6- (1) Amendments related to any of the articles of the Agreement or to the first chapter of the Appurtenance shall be considered accepted as of the date of approval by two-thirds of the members of the contracting governments.

  • (2) Amendments related to the Appurtenance, excluding the first chapter, shall be considered accepted as of:

    • A- The passage of two years starting from the date of notifying the contracting governments for acceptance or.

    • B- At the end of a specified time period, which shall not be less than one year if this is determined upon approval by a two-thirds majority of the contracting governments present and participating in the voting in the expanded Maritime Safety Committee.

• In any case, an amendment shall be considered unacceptable if one-third of the contracting governments or a number of contracting governments representing at least fifty percent of the total cargo of their commercial fleets notify the Secretary-General of the organization during the specified time period of their opposition to the amendment.

  • 7- (1) An amendment related to any of the articles or to the first chapter of the Appurtenance shall be effective for the contracting governments that approve it after six months from the date of acceptance of the amendment, and it shall also be effective for any contracting government that accepts the amendment after that date, six months after that government’s acceptance of the amendment.

  • (2) An amendment related to the Appurtenance, excluding the first chapter, shall be effective for all contracting governments - except those that have declared their opposition to it as stated in subparagraph B-6 (2) above, which withdraw their opposition - starting from the end of the sixth month from the date it is considered accepted. However, any contracting government may notify the Secretary-General of the organization before the specified date of the amendment's effectiveness that it considers itself not bound to implement the amendment for a period not exceeding one year from the date of effectiveness or for a longer period if approved by two-thirds of the contracting governments present and participating in the voting in the expanded Maritime Safety Committee when the amendment is approved in the committee.

• C- Amendment through conferences:-

  • C- (1) The organization, at the request of one of the contracting governments supported by at least one-third of the contracting governments, shall call for a conference of the contracting governments to study amendments to this Agreement.

  • (2) All contracting governments shall be notified by the Secretary-General of the organization of the amendment approved by this conference by a two-thirds majority of the contracting governments present and participating in the voting for the purpose of obtaining their approval.

  • (3) Unless the conference decides otherwise, the amendment shall be considered accepted and shall become effective in accordance with the procedures stipulated in paragraphs B-6, B-7 of this article, provided that the documents related to the expanded Maritime Safety Committee concerning those paragraphs are also in effect, as are the conference documents related to the same paragraphs.

  • D- (1) A contracting government that has approved an emergency amendment to the Appurtenance that has come into effect is not obliged, after the benefits of this Agreement concerning any certificates issued for a ship eligible to fly the flag of a government that previously applied paragraph B-6 (2) of paragraph (B) of this article, if it opposed that amendment and did not withdraw its objection, but the obligation of that state is limited to the approval stated in the certificate and specified in the mentioned amendment.

  • (2) The contracting government that accepts an amendment to the Appurtenance that has become effective after the benefits of this Agreement concerning certificates issued for a ship of a state whose government has notified the Secretary-General of the organization in accordance with the provisions of paragraph B-7-(2) of this article that it does not commit to implementing the amendment.

E- Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the effectiveness of any amendment to this Agreement made in accordance with the provisions of this article concerning the construction of the ship is limited to those ships that are its equivalent or are at a similar stage of construction on the date the amendment becomes effective or after that date.

F- Any notification of acceptance of any amendment or objection to it or any memorandum in accordance with paragraph B.7(2) of this article must be submitted in writing to the Secretary-General of the organization, who shall notify all contracting governments of what has been submitted to him and the date of submission.

G. The Secretary-General of the organization shall notify all contracting governments of any amendment that becomes effective in accordance with the provisions of this article, indicating the date of its effectiveness.

A- This Agreement shall remain open for signature at the headquarters of the organization from November 1, 1974, until July 1, 1975, and shall thereafter remain open for accession. States may become parties to this Agreement by any of the following means:

• 1- Signature without reservation as to ratification, acceptance, or approval.

• 2- Signature for the purpose of ratification, acceptance, or approval, followed by ratification, acceptance, or approval.

• 3- Accession.

B- Ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession shall be effected by the deposit of the relevant instrument with the Secretary-General of the organization.

C- The Secretary-General of the organization shall notify the governments of all states that have signed this Agreement or acceded to it of any new signatures or the deposit of any instruments of ratification, acceptance, or approval, along with the date of deposit.