Including adopted amendments entering into force on or after 1 November 2023, requirements which have entered force but are phasing in for some ships, and significant developments up to and including the Carriage of Cargoes and Containers Sub-Committee (CCC 9) in September 2023.

Summary of major developments:

New approvals or adoptions 

  • Agreement on the entry into effect of the MARPOL Annex I Special Areas in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
  • Agreement on the entry into effect of the MARPOL Annex V Special Area in the Red Sea
  • Approved draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI, regulations 2, 14 and 18, and appendix I 
  • Approved draft amendment to SOLAS II-2/4 on fuel safety
  • Approved amendments to MSC.402(96) on LSA maintenance, examination and testing
  • Approved draft amendments to SOLAS Chapter V on reporting lost containers
  • Approval of draft amendments to the IMDG Code
  • Adopted amendments to SOLAS Chapter II-1 on lifting appliances and anchor handling winches
  • Adopted amendments to SOLAS chapter XIV and to the Polar Code for non-SOLAS ships
  • Adopted provisions to prohibit the use of fire-fighting foams containing perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) for fire-fighting on board ships
  • Adopted revisions to SOLAS Chapter V and associated certificates and the 1978 & 1988 SOLAS Protocol – mandatory carriage of electronic inclinometers on container ships and bulk carriers
  • Adopted amendments to the LSA Code and resolution MSC.81(70) ‘Revised recommendation on the testing of life-saving appliances’ on the ventilation of totally enclosed lifeboats 
  • Adopted amendments to the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code (07-23)
  • Adopted amendments to appendix II of the Ballast Water Management Convention (the Form of Ballast Water Record Book)
  • Adopted amendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978 – electronic seafarers’ certificates
  • Adopted amendments to Part A of the Seafarers' Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) Code – electronic seafarers’ certificates
  • The Hong Kong Convention / Ship recycling has reached its entry into force criteria  

Significant new items being considered or milestones in ongoing development

  • The 2023 IMO Greenhouse Gas Strategy was adopted at MEPC 80
  • The timetable for the review of the GHG Short-Term Measures (EEDI, EEXI, CII) has commenced 
  • The timetable for the establishment of GHG Mid-Term Measures has been agreed
  • The Cape Town Agreement has reached the entry-into-force threshold for the number of ratifying States, but hasn’t yet reached the aggregate number of fishing vessels threshold
  • The review of the Ballast Water Management Convention
  • The review of the STCW Convention
  • Development of a goal-based instrument for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) 

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