SOLAS or also known as the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea is an international maritime safety treaty and considered to be the most important treaty concerning maritime safety.It has several revisions with the first treaty was created in 1914 after the Titanic disaster at sea. The newest version of the treaty is the version which was created in 1980 prescribing the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) as a replacement for Morse Code.
The 1974 SOLAS requires the flag state to observe the minimum safety standard for operation, construction and equipment. It also sets out general obligations and followed by 12 Chapters that includes following topics
- General Provisions
- Construction – Subdivision and stability, machinery and electrical installations
- Fire protection, fire detection and fire extinction
- Life-saving appliances and arrangements
- Radiocommunications
- Safety of navigation
- Carriage of Cargoes
- Carriage of dangerous goods
- Nuclear ships
- Management for the Safe Operation of Ships
- Safety measures for high-speed craft
- Special measures to enhance maritime safety
- Special measures to enhance maritime security
Of all the provisions on the treaty, only Chapter V or the provisions on Safety of Navigation applies to all types of vessels at sea including small crafts and yachts, local trips as well as to commercial vessels on international trip.
Many countries have adopted this Chapter V of SOLAS and had made it into international and local laws so that anybody who is in violations of such provisions can be subject to legal proceedings.
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