1. The Malta government has notified the Society of the carriage requirementswith respect to immersion suits on Maltese-flagged shipsapplicable upon the entry into force on 1 July 2006 of amended Regulation 32.3.

(1) A ship other than a bulk carrier, as defined in SOLAS 74 Chapter IX Regulation 1, as amended, which is constantly engaged on voyages in warm climates, may be exempted from Reg.32.3.2 (amendments adopted by Res.MSC152(78)). The following sea areas have been defined as warm climate sea areas for the scope of application of exemption provisions contained in the regulation:
(i) the sea area between the parallels of latitude 30 degrees North and 30 degrees South
(ii) the sea area of the Mediterranean Sea south of latitude 35 degrees North
(iii) the sea area within 20 nautical miles from the coasts of Africa not included in the sea areas above
(2) On ships that are required to provide every person onboard with an immersion suit complying with the requirements of the Life-Saving Appliances Code Section 2.3 there shall also be available:
(i) at least two additional immersion suits of the same type located in the navigating bridge
(ii) at least two additional immersion suits of the same type located in the engine room
(iii) at least two additional immersion suits of the same type located at workstations where the crew performs its normal duties (except watch-keeping duties), if the horizontal distance from the workstations to the stowage position of the immersion suits is more than 100 metres
(3) Immersion Suits may be either stored at clearly identifiable locations close to the lifeboat stations or alternatively be distributed to each individual member of the crew.
(4) Lifejackets required by SOLAS 74 Chapter III Regulation 7.2 shall be retained onboard regardless of the type of immersion suits provided.
(To be continued)