The IMO Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers held its 8th session, a hybrid one (CCC 8) agreed draft new requirements for mandatory reporting of lost freight containers at sea.
More specifically, the Sub-Committee agreed draft amendments to the SOLAS and MARPOL treaties. The draft amendments to SOLAS chapter V, on safety of navigation, will be submitted to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), with a view to approval by MSC 107 (spring 2023) and subsequent adoption by MSC 108.
The draft amendments add new paragraphs to SOLAS chapter V Regulation 31 on Danger messages. These require the master of every ship involved in the loss of freight containers, shall communicate the particulars of such an incident by appropriate means without delay and to the fullest extent possible to ships in the vicinity, to the nearest coastal State, and also to the flag State. The flag State would be required to report the loss of freight containers to IMO.
In addition, the draft amendments also add a new paragraph to SOLAS chapter V Regulation 32 on Information required in danger messages, specifying the information to be reported, including, where available, position, number of containers, etc.
The draft amendment to the article V of protocol I of the MARPOL Convention– Provisions concerning reports on incidents involving harmful substances, under Article V on reporting procedures, would add a new paragraph to say that “In case of the loss of freight container(s), the report required by article II (1) (b) shall be made in accordance with the provisions of SOLAS regulations V/31 and V/32.”
Furthermore, the Sub-Committee agreed that the draft amendments should enter into force on 1 January 2026. It was specifically agreed that the IMO Secretariat would develop the relevant module under the IMO Global Integrated shipping Information System (GISIS) for the receipt of reports from flag States.
