The Ratification of Maritime Conventions
Chapter I.3.30
PROTOCOL OF 1978 RELATING TO THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA, 1974, AS AMENDED
Note: The present text incorporates the original text as modified by the following amendments:
| Date of entry | |
|---|---|
| into force | |
| —1981 amendments adopted by res. MSC.2(XLV) | 01.09.1984 |
| —1988 (GMDSS) amendments adopted by a Conference | 01.02.1992 |
ADOPTED: Done at London, 17 February 1978
REFERENCE: SOLAS PROT 1978
ENTERED INTO FORCE: 1 May 1981
DEPOSITARY: IMO, London
SECRETARY: IMO, London
IMPLEMENTATION
SIGNATURE, RATIFICATION, ACCEPTANCE, APPROVAL AND ACCESSION
Article IV
1. The present Protocol shall be open for signature at the Headquarters of the Organization from 1 June 1978 to 1 March 1979 and shall thereafter remain open for accession. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Article, States may become Parties to the present Protocol by:
- (a) signature without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval; or
- (b) signature subject to ratification, acceptance or approval, followed by ratification, acceptance or approval; or
- (c) accession.
2. Ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument to that effect with the Secretary-General of the Organization.
3. The present Protocol may be signed without reservation, ratified, accepted, approved or acceded to only by States which have signed without reservation, ratified, accepted, approved or acceded to the Convention. (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974)
ENTRY INTO FORCE
Article V
1. The present Protocol shall enter into force six months after the date on which not less than fifteen States, the combined merchant fleets of which constitute not less than fifty per cent of the gross tonnage of the world’s merchant shipping, have become Parties to it in accordance with article IV of the present Protocol, provided however that the present Protocol shall not enter into force before the Convention has entered into force.
2. Any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession deposited after the date on which the present Protocol enters into force shall take effect three months after the date of deposit.
3. After the date on which an amendment to the present Protocol is deemed to have been accepted under Article VIII of the Convention, any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession deposited shall apply to the present Protocol as amended.
DENUNCIATION
Article VI
1. The present Protocol may be denounced by any Party at any time after the expiry of five years from the date on which the present Protocol enters into force for that Party.
2. Denunciation shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of denunciation with the Secretary-General of the Organization.
3. A denunciation shall take effect one year, or such longer period as may be specified in the instrument of denunciation, after its receipt by the Secretary-General of the Organization.
4. A denunciation of the Convention by a Party shall be deemed to be a denunciation of the present Protocol by that Party.
DECLARATIONS, RESERVATIONS AND STATEMENTS
Germany, Federal Republic of
The instrument of ratification of the Federal Republic of Germany was accompanied by a declaration (in the English language) “that with effect from the day on which the Protocol enters into force for the Federal Republic of Germany it shall also apply to Berlin (West).”
The following reservation (in the English language) also accompanied the instrument of ratification:
“The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany declares that the provisions of the second sentence of chapter I, regulation 19(f) of the Annex to the Protocol cannot be applied in the Federal Republic of Germany at present.”
The following explanatory remarks (in the English language) accompanied the reservation:
“The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany wishes to point out the following in connexion with the declaration it has made:
‘Any claims for compensation are met in accordance with the provisions of existing national law which correspond in essence to the liability provision of the Annex to the Protocol. The liability provision of the Annex to the Protocol is not quite as precise as national law requires normative liability to be.
Furthermore, the provisions obtaining in the Federal Republic of Germany are constantly being updated, which must also be seen in the light of the results of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and possible future membership of the MARPOL Convention of 1973 and the Protocol thereto of 1978.’ ”
By a communication dated 21 January 1982 the above reservation and accompanying explanatory remarks were withdrawn, with effect from 8 January 1982.
Israel
The depositary received the following communication dated 3 December 1979 from the Ambassador of Israel in London:
“The instrument of accession deposited by the Government of Kuwait was accompanied by a statement of a political character in respect of Israel. In the view of the Government of Israel, this Convention is not the proper place for making such political pronouncements. Moreover, the said declaration cannot in any way affect whatever obligations are binding upon the State of Kuwait under general international law or under particular conventions. The Government of Israel will, in so far as concerns the substance of the matter, adopt towards the Government of Kuwait an attitude of complete reciprocity.”
Kuwait
The instrument of accession of the State of Kuwait was accompanied by an Understanding (in the English language), the text of which reads as follows:
“It is understood that the accession of the State of Kuwait to . . . the Protocol of 1978 [relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974] done at London on the 17th February 1978, does not in any way mean recognition of Israel by the State of Kuwait. Furthermore, no treaty relations will arise between the State of Kuwait and Israel.”