SOLAS V & Passage Plans

[Guest]

You'll find an article - SOLAS Explained - at www.rya.org.uk/Cruising, then click on the 'Cruising News' link. An up-dated article will also be in the next RYA Magazine (so get your subs in now ;-)).

What the article doesn't mention is some of the other regulations that could have been there but for successful RYA lobbying. Compulsory libraries of charts and nautical publications on board, compulsory logged checks of steering gear before every voyage, compulsory GPS equipment, etc, anyone...?

If you've done an RYA Yachtmaster course you've done passage planning. It's covered in 'Yachtmaster - Shorebased' (YSN/01 - £7.95 from marine booksellers or the RYA web shop at www.rya.org.uk/shop).

Note that the requirement is proportionate to the voyage, that your plan doesn't necessarily have to be written down (although that would generally be good practice), that there are no plans for spot checks, that the requirement for a passage plan doesn’t apply in the Solent, and that it was already the case before SOLAS V came into force that you could be prosecuted (and probably invalidate your insurance) if you were involved in an incident in which you were shown to have been negligent.


John Bagnall
RYA Marketing Manager

 

[oldsalt]

Glad to hear that you were involved, but surely the RYA should be publisising this further instead of being hidden away in Cruising News. This SOLAS law is a precedent, what's to stop authorities changing their minds tomorrow, and checking all boats for a plan> Can we have guidelines of what to expect?

 

[ParaHandy]

Those parts of Solas V you mention were at the discretion of the individual maritime authority. You would not have had much lobbying to do?

Passage plans were not discretionary.

 

[RYA_Cruising]

We are going to do all we can to make sure that all the guidance on this issue is unambiguous and realistic so that everyone can meet these new requirements and still enjoy their sport. Look out for the double page feature in the Autumn issue of RYA Mag, the FAQ on the RYA Website (below), the Press Release issued this week and details of the MCA's guidance due out later this month.

What is SOLAS?
The Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention is the key piece of international legislation that looks after safety of life onboard any ship or craft that goes to sea. It was first formed and ratified in 1914 as a result of the Titanic disaster, where 1500 people lost their lives needlessly. Obviously times and technology have changed since 1914, so, the International Maritime Organisation (the UN body that looks after the Sea) reviews the chapters periodically to take into account new practices and technology. The recent review of Chapter V dealing with Safety of Navigation is one of these updates.

Why does SOLAS apply to small craft now?
As a result of the review by the International Maritime Organisation, the new revised SOLAS chapter V now applies to “all ships on all voyages” except warships, other government owned or contracted ships and ships navigating solely on the Great Lakes of North America. This means that for the first time, SOLAS Chapter V applies to small boats of less than 150 gross tonnage (grt), which includes pleasure craft.

Was the RYA consulted in the review?
The RYA is recognised by all Government offices as being the negotiating body for the water activities it represents, and as a result was consulted by the MCA about the new regulations.

The original proposal from the MCA was that pleasure craft be included in many more of the regulations than at present. This could have included logged visual steering checks, compulsory carriage of a vast library of charts and nautical publications, compulsory log keeping, logged checks on auto-helm or self steering systems, compulsory carriage of navigation equipment and much more.

The RYA responded robustly to the proposed new regulations by putting forward a case for exemption for small craft for each of the proposed new regulations on the basis that they did not improve safety. As a result, the MCA was able to exempt pleasure craft from the majority of the regulations, but not all of them.

What would have happened if the RYA had not stepped in?
If the RYA had not been consulted and had not have been successful in ensuring the exemptions for pleasure craft from some the regulations in Chapter V of SOLAS then it would be a lot harder for you to go boating.

Imagine if you had to carry out logged visual steering checks, compulsory log keeping, logged checks on auto-helm or self steering systems and you had to find room, and money, on your boat for a vast library of compulsory charts and nautical publications and carriage of approved navigation equipment.



What does this mean for me in my pleasure boat?
The number of regulations that pleasure boats have to adhere to has increased, however as a result of RYA’s successful lobbying of the MCA, the number of regulations are a lot fewer than they could have been.

Pleasure boats have always been affected by some regulations, for example all vessels must follow the International Rules for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea (COLREGS).

The new regulations affecting you are:

Regulation 19.2.1.7 – Radar Reflectors
All ships shall have, if less then 150grt and if practicable, a radar reflector.

RYA Note: The Department of Transport and the Local Regions has given a definition of “if practicable” as, “if it is possible to use a radar reflector on your boat then you must use one”.

Regulation 29 – Life saving signals
An illustrated table describing the life-saving signals shall be readily available.

RYA Note: The MCA will be producing a leaflet of these signals, expected at end of July, to satisfy this regulation. The RYA, boating press, publishers and UKHO will be distributing the leaflet as widely as possible when it is available.

Regulation 31 & 32 – Danger Messages
Skippers and Masters have a duty to communicate information on navigational dangers. These include dangerous derelicts or other dangerous obstructions, tropical storms and winds of force 10 or more for which no warning has already been received. The information can be sent via plain language or using the International Code of Signals. Governments are also required to promulgate any danger information received and messages must be free of charge to ships.

RYA Note: In practice this means that mariners have a duty to report as best they can any serious hazards that may be a danger to navigation – preferably to the local coastguard.

Regulation 33 – Distress Messages
Masters and Skippers have an obligation to respond to distress messages from any source. Ships can be requisitioned by the master of a ship in distress or the Search and Rescue authorities.

RYA Note: This regulation basically enforces the mariner’s duty to respond to any distress message, as taught in the RYA’s SRC (including the old VHF-Restricted) Course.

Regulation 34 – Safe Navigation and avoidance of dangerous situations (including passage planning)
“Going to sea” is defined as proceeding outside of categorized waters i.e. outside of estuarial waters, harbour or port authority areas.

MCA guidance notes say for “small craft and pleasure vessels, the degree of voyage planning will be dependent on the size of the vessel, its crew and the length of the voyage. The MCA expects all mariners to make a careful assessment of any proposed voyage taking into account all dangers to navigation, weather forecasts, tidal predictions and other relevant factors including the competence of the crew”

RYA Note: Full clarification of this regulation is expected in the guidance notes that the MCA will issue by the end of July. However, anyone who has completed an RYA practical training course will be competent in passage planning. The MCA has said that they only expect passage planning in proportion to the trip undertaken and do not require any kind of formal written passage plan to be submitted. This regulation is not to be confused with the MCA’s Voluntary Safety Identification Scheme (CG 66), which allows boat owners to register their vessel and, prior to a passage, give details of their boat, destination and ETA to the Coastguard in case of an emergency.

The RYA has been assured by the MCA that this regulation does not herald a regime of spot checks or pre-departure checks. It’s most obvious application would be in the event of a serious incident or accident involving a pleasure yacht, where the skipper can be proved not to have carried out any assessment or passage planning. The MCA has always had the power to charge leisure boat skippers with negligence for lack of passage planning and has done so in the past.

Regulation 35 – Distress Signals
Distress signals are only to be used for their proper use.

RYA Note: Fines already exist of the miss use of the distress flares.

Is that it?
There has been lots of discussion and heated debate about what the regulations are and the RYA’s part in them. The RYA believes in “education not legislation” and we certainly do not welcome bureaucracy and regulation. Although in this case we were not able to completely avoid the regulation, we were able to keep it to a minimum with robust and thorough case that more regulation does not improve safety. We will continue to work with the MCA to ensure that all the guidance on this issue is unambiguous and realistic so that everyone can meet these new requirements and still enjoy their sport.

If you would like more information about the new SOLAS Chapter V regulations then visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the RYA website at www.rya.org.uk or contact the Cruising Division on tel: 0845 345 0370 or email: cruising@rya.org.uk.


Sophie Strefford

Cruising Division
RYA

Tel: 0845 345 0370
email: cruising@rya.org.uk
Website: http://www.rya.org.uk/cruising.asp

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