This is to notify that the guidance for BC Code fitness certification has been revised with the amendments of the Code. This Technical Information supersedes ClassNK Technical Information No.TEC-0562. The revision of the guidance for BC Code fitness certification is summarized as follows.

[Amendments of the BC Code]
The amendments of BC Code, of which individual schedules of solid bulk cargoes had been reviewed and the name had been changed to IMSBC Code, were adopted by IMO Maritime Safety Committee 85th session (MSC85) held from November to December 2008.

[Application of the revised BC Code, "IMSBC Code"]
The voluntary application of the amendments to the SOLAS Convention, which makes the IMSBC Code becomes mandatory, was agreed and the amendments were adopted by MSC85 with the following schedules.

- on or after 1 January 2009 on a voluntary basis
- on or after 1 January 2011 as mandatory

[Estimated requirements of port authorities]
Any regulation on certification or survey has not been stipulated in the BC Code, IMSBC Code or SOLAS Convention so far. On the other hand, a number of states have been requiring that ships carrying solid bulk cargoes in their waters should have a BC Code Fitness Certificate. Taking the voluntary application date of the amendments to the SOLAS Convention mentioned in the above into consideration, it is estimated that a number of states will require that ships carrying solid bulk cargoes in their waters should have a Certificate of Compliance with the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code (hereinafter the certificate as "IMSBC Code Fitness Certificate"). (Please refer to the following table.)