The ninety-fifth session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 95) was held at the IMO in London, U.K. from 3 to 12 June 2015. Since the minutes, resolutions and circulars of the meeting were recently released from the IMO, a summary of the decisions taken at MSC 95 is provided as below for your information.

1. Adopted Mandatory Requirements
Mandatory requirements were adopted at MSC 95 as follows:
(1) The International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code) (See attachment 1 and 2)
The IGF Code (new code) which specifies the requirements for ships using gases or other low-flashpoint fuels and amendments to SOLAS II-1 and II-2 to make the IGF Code mandatory were adopted. Please see section 3. for more details.

Applied to: ships contracted for construction on or after 1 January 2017
ships keel laid on or after 1 July 2017, in the absence of a building contract
ships delivered on or after 1 January 2021
ships converted to use gaseous or other low-flashpoint fuels on or after 1 January 2017

(2) Training and qualifications for crews on ships subject to IGF Code (See attachment 6 and 7)
In association with the development of the IGF Code, amendments to STCW I, V and STCW Code were adopted to specify the special training and qualification requirements for crews.

Applied: on and after 1 January 2017

(3) Revision of certificate forms in SOLAS (See attachment 2, 4 and 5)
In association with the development of the IGF Code, amendments to SOLAS Appendix were adopted to revise the form of safety construction certificate for cargo ships and the form of safety certificate for passenger ships so that the information about the application of the IGF Code is stated.

Applied: on and after 1 January 2017

(To be continued)