(a) The present Convention shall come into force twelve months after the date on which not less than fifteen acceptances, including seven by countries each with not less than one million gross tons of shipping, have been deposited in accordance with Article X. The Organisation shall inform all Governments which have signed or accepted the present Convention of the date on which it comes into force.

(b) Acceptances deposited after the date on which the present Convention comes into force shall take effect three months after the date of their deposit.

DENUNCIATION

Article XII

(a) The present Convention may be denounced by any Contracting Government at any time after the expiry of five years from the date on which the Convention comes into force for that Government.

(b) Denunciation shall be effected by a notification in writing addressed to the Organisation which shall notify all the other Contracting Governments of any denunciation received and of the date of its receipt.

(c) A denunciation shall take effect one year, or such longer period as may be specified in the notification, after its receipt by the Organisation.

AMENDMENTS

Article IX

(a) (i) The present Convention may be amended by unanimous agreement between the Contracting Governments.

(ii) Upon the request of any Contracting Government a proposed amendment shall be communicated by the Organisation to all Contracting Governments for consideration and acceptance under this paragraph.

(b) (i) An amendment to the present Convention may be proposed to the Organisation at any time by any Contracting Government and such proposal, if adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Assembly of the Organisation (hereinafter called the Assembly), upon recommendation adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Maritime Safety Committee of the Organisation (hereinafter called the Maritime Safety Committee), shall be communicated by the Organisation to all Contracting Governments for their acceptance.

(ii) Any such recommendation by the Maritime Safety Committee shall be communicated by the Organisation to all Contracting Governments for their consideration at least six months before it is considered by the Assembly.

(c) (i) A conference of Governments to consider amendments to the present Convention proposed by any Contracting Government shall at any time be convened by the Organisation upon the request of one-third of the Contracting Governments.

(ii) Every amendment adopted by such conference by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting Governments shall be communicated by the Organisation to all Contracting Governments for their acceptance.

(d) Any amendment communicated to Contracting Governments for their acceptance under paragraph (b) or (c) of this Article shall come into force for all Contracting Governments, except those which before it comes into force make a declaration that they do not accept the amendment, twelve months after the date on which the amendment is accepted by two-thirds of the Contracting Governments including two-thirds of the Governments represented on the Maritime Safety Committee.

(e) The Assembly, by a two-thirds majority vote, including two-thirds of the Governments represented on the Maritime Safety Committee, and subject to the concurrence of two-thirds of the Contracting Governments to the present Convention, or a conference convened under paragraph (c) of this Article by a two-thirds majority vote, may determine at the time of its adoption that the amendment is of such an important nature that any Contracting Government which makes a declaration under paragraph (d) of this Article and which does not accept the amendment within a period of twelve months after the amendment comes into force, shall, upon the expiry of this period, cease to be a party to the present Convention.

(f) Any amendment to the present Convention made under this Article which related to the structure of a ship shall apply only to ships the keels of which are laid after the date on which the amendment comes into force.

(g) The Organisation shall inform all Contracting Governments of any amendments which come into force under this Article, together with the date on which such amendments shall come into force.

(h) Any acceptance or declaration under this Article shall be made by a notification in writing to the Organisation, which shall notify all Contracting Governments of the receipt of the acceptance or declaration.

TERRITORIAL APPLICATION

Article XIII

(a) (i) The United Nations in cases where they are the administering authority for a territory or any Contracting Government responsible for the international relations of a territory shall as soon as possible consult with such territory in an endeavour to extend the present Convention to that territory and may at any time by notification in writing given to the Organisation declare that the present Convention shall extend to such territory.

(ii) The present Convention shall from the date of the receipt of the notification or from such other date as may be specified in the notification extend to the territories named therein.

(b) (i) The United Nations or any Contracting Government which has made a declaration under paragraph (a) of this Article, at any time after the expiry of a period of five years from the date on which the Convention has so been extended to any territory, may by a notification in writing given to the Organisation declare that the present Convention shall cease to extend to any such territory named in the notification.

(ii) The present Convention shall cease to extend to any territory mentioned in such notification one year, or such longer period as may be specified therein, after the date of receipt of the notification by the Organisation.

(c) The Organisation shall inform all the Contracting Governments of the extension of the present Convention to any territories under paragraph (a) of this Article, and of the termination of any such extension under the provisions of paragraph (b), stating in each case the date from which the present Convention has been or will cease to be so extended.

[translation] “The position of the Government of the German Democratic Republic of the provisions of article XIII of the Convention, as far as the application of the Convention to colonial and other dependent territories is concerned, is governed by the stipulations of the United Nations Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (resolution No. 1514(XV) of 14 December 1960) proclaiming the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations.

In regard to the application of the Convention to Berlin (West) the German Democratic Republic states, in accordance with the Quadripartite Agreement between the Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and the French Republic of 3 September 1971 that Berlin (West) is no constituent part of the Federal Republic of Germany and must not be governed by it. Consequently, the declaration of the Federal Republic of Germany that the Convention was also applicable to the “Land of Berlin” is inconsistent with the Quadripartite Agreement and can produce no legal effects.”

Germany, Federal Republic of

The Note Verbale (in the English language) accompanying the instrument of acceptance of the Federal Republic of Germany contained the following sentence:

“This Convention shall also apply to Land Berlin as from the date on which it shall enter into force for the Federal Republic of Germany.”

Hungary

In its instrument of acceptance, the Hungarian People’s Republic maintained the declaration made by its Representative at the time of signature of the Convention and concluded its ratification by noting (in the Hungarian language):

[translation] “That the inclusion in the Convention of the provisions of paragraph (b) of regulation 7 and regulation 11 of chapter VIII in the part concerning the procedure for admitting nuclear-powered vessels into foreign ports is not necessary because they can impede the exploitation of nuclear-powered vessels and be detrimental to the construction of such vessels. The Hungarian People’s Republic therefore does not consider itself committed to the above-mentioned provisions.”

In the Note (in the English language) accompanying the instrument of acceptance and at the time of its deposit, the Embassy of the Hungarian People’s Republic in London made the following statement:

“The Hungarian People’s Republic declares that the provisions of article XIII of the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea done at London on the 17th June, 1960 contradict the basic principle of international law on the right of peoples to self-determination which principle was also formulated in the resolution No: 1514/XV of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization.”

Iraq

The instrument of acceptance of the Republic of Iraq contained the following sentence (in the Arabic language):

[translation] “ . . . such acceptance shall in no way constitute recognition of Israel or entry into any agreement therewith.”

Israel

The depositary received on 19 April 1966 a communication (in the English language) from the Embassy of Israel in London. The communication, the full text of which was circulated by the depositary, includes the following:

“The Government of Israel has noted the political character of the declaration made by the Republic of Algeria in its communication regarding the relationship said to arise between it and the State of Israel in connexion with the Convention.

In the view of the Government of Israel, the Convention is not the proper place for making such political pronouncements.

The Government of Israel will, in so far as concerns the substance of the matter, adopt towards the Republic of Algeria an attitude of complete reciprocity.”

The depositary received on 16 April 1970 a communication (in the English language) from the Embassy of Israel in London. The communication, the full text of which was circulated by the depositary, includes the following:

“The instrument of acceptance of the United Arab Republic contains declarations of a political character, made by the Government of the United Arab Republic in respect of Israel. In the view of the Government of Israel, this Convention is not the proper place for making such political pronouncements. That declaration cannot in any way affect the obligations of the United Arab Republic already existing under general international law. The Government of Israel will, in so far as concerns the substance of the matter, adopt towards the United Arab Republic an attitude of complete reciprocity.

The instrument of acceptance of the State of Kuwait contains declarations of a political character, made by the Government of Kuwait in respect of Israel. In the view of the Government of Israel, this Convention is not the proper place for making such political pronouncements. The declaration cannot in any way affect the obligations of the State of Kuwait already existing under general international law. 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.”

The depositary received the following communication dated 26 April 1979 from the Ambassador of the State of Israel in London:

“The instrument deposited by the Government of Iraq contains a statement of a political character in respect of Israel. In the view of the Government of Israel, this is not the proper place for making such political pronouncements, which are, moreover, in flagrant contradiction to the principles, objects and purposes of the Convention. That pronouncement by the Government of Iraq cannot in any way affect whatever obligations are binding upon it under general international law or under particular treaties.

The Government of Israel will, in so far as concerns the substance of the matter, adopt towards the Government of Iraq an attitude of complete reciprocity.”

Kuwait

The letter (in the English language) accompanying the instrument of acceptance of the State of Kuwait contains the following remarks:

“In accepting the said Convention, the Government of the State of Kuwait takes the view that its signature and acceptance of the said Convention does not in any way imply its recognition of Israel, nor does it oblige it to apply the provisions of the Convention in respect of the said country.

The Government of the State of Kuwait wishes further to indicate that its understanding described above is in conformity with the general practice existing in Kuwait regarding signature, ratification or accession to a Convention of which a country not recognized by Kuwait is a Party.”

Oman

The instrument of acceptance of the Sultanate of Oman contained the following statement (in the English language):

“It is understood that acceptance of the above enumerated Convention, . . . does not, in any way, imply the recognition of Israel by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman, and furthermore, no treaty relations will arise between the Sultanate of Oman and Israel by virtue of this action by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman.”

Pakistan

The Note (in the English language) accompanying the instrument of acceptance of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan declared:

“(a) That it will take up to three years from the date on which this Convention comes into force for all cargo ships registered in Pakistan then in service to be surveyed for purposes of issuing them with a Cargo Ship Safety Convention Certification;

(b) that while accepting the provisions of chapter VIII of the Convention in its entirety Pakistan will enact legislation to give effect to the provisions of this chapter as soon as it becomes necessary to do so and will meanwhile act in conformity with chapter VIII in relation to any foreign nuclear ships.”

Papua New Guinea

The instrument of acceptance of Papua New Guinea contained the following reservation:

“In accepting the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, the Government of Papua New Guinea declares that while accepting the provisions of chapter VIII of the Regulations in their entirety, they will legislate to give effect to them as soon as it becomes necessary to do so and will meanwhile act in conformity with chapter VIII in relation to any foreign nuclear ships.”

Romania

The letter (in the English language) accompanying the instrument of acceptance of the Socialist Republic of Romania contained the following paragraph:

“The State Council of the Socialist Republic of Romania considers that the maintenance of the state of dependence of some territories to which the stipulation of the article XIII of the Convention refers, is not in accordance with the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples adopted by the UN General Assembly on 14th December, 1960, resolution 1514(XV), which proclaims the necessity to rapidly and unconditionally put an end to colonialism under all its forms and manifestations.”

United Kingdom

The Note (in the English language) accompanying the instrument of acceptance of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland declared:

“ . . . that while accepting the provisions of chapter VIII of the Regulations in their entirety, they will legislate to give effect to them as soon as it becomes necessary to do so and will meanwhile act in conformity with chapter VIII in relation to any foreign nuclear ships.”

1 The Convention has been superseded, with effect from 25 May 1980, by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as between the States Parties to the later Convention.

2 Amendments were adopted in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973 (General) and 1973 (Grain). None have entered into force.