Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-07-05

Enforcement of new Regulations in terms of the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)

- As per the “Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea” (SOLAS), issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in the year 1974, common and specific laws and regulations for the safety of life at sea, to be followed in the international merchant shipping affairs have been introduced. All the member states have agreed upon to follow all these rules and regulations imposed with regard to the field of merchant shipping. Accordingly, a Certificate detailing as to the gross mass of all the containers shipped, should be submitted, with a view to enhancing the security of the container ships, maintaining the stability/balance of the ships, storing the containers in a due manner and minimizing the environmental effects. However, no steps have been taken to issue a formal Certificate in this regard, though records of the gross weight of the export containers are kept at present. Therefore, in order to provide for the said purpose, the proposal made by Hon. Arjuna Ranatunga, the Minister of Ports and Shipping, to draft the Regulations prepared by the Merchant Shipping Secretariat, for the issuance of Certificates to container weight verifiers and container transporters, after having discussions with all the relevant stakeholders relating to the maritime affairs, through the Legal Draftsman and to publish the said regulations in the Government Gazette and to submit the same in Parliament for approval, was approved by the Cabinet.