SOLASInternational Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea

SOLAS sets the minimum standards for the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships. The current convention was adopted on 1 November 1974 and entered into force on 25 May 1980. It is kept up to date through the "tacit acceptance" procedure: amendments enter into force on a set date unless enough states object, which is why SOLAS changes several times a decade.^[1]

Its chapters cover subdivision and stability, machinery and electrical installations, fire protection, detection and extinction, life-saving appliances, radiocommunications, safety of navigation, carriage of cargoes and dangerous goods, safety management (the ISM Code) and maritime security (the ISPS Code). Flag states enforce it through surveys and certificates; port states check it.^[1]

For the purchasing desk SOLAS is the reason much of the safety catalogue is not optional: lifejackets, lifebuoys, pyrotechnics, fire-fighters' outfits and immersion suits must be of an approved type, in the numbers the ship's certificates require, and in date.