Improving Safety at Sea Through Compliance with International Maritime Safety Codes

Abstract

There is a number of international instruments that contribute to the improvement and advancement of safety at sea. The primary task of all international instruments is to make sea navigation less dangerous and to reduce, to the maximum extent possible, the risks associated with maritime navigation, and hence the occurrence of maritime accidents and marine pollution. In addition to international conventions as basic international instruments, codes adopted by various international organizations are of particular importance for improving the safety of navigation. The IMO, as the main organization responsible for improving maritime safety, certainly occupies a special place. Since its inception, the IMO has convened many international conferences and developed many regulations, recommendations and codes of practice concerning the carriage of dangerous cargoes by sea. Thirty conventions and protocols, as well as a number of codes and recommendations concerning maritime safety, the prevention of marine pollution and other related matters have been adopted by the IMO. In this paper we have tried to point out the most important international codes the observance of which is imperative for improving safety at sea. Attention is paid to the role of a number of international organizations in the safety of navigation, with special emphasis on the IMO.