Major-General of Port F. Marena, Vice-Inspector of Harbour Master Offices. Engineer-General E. Ferretti, Chief of the Technical Office of the Mr. G. Gneme, Chief of the Telegraph Service of the General The Government of Japan: Mr. Yukio Yamamoto, Inspector-General of the Mercantile Marine Bureau, Expert in the Department of Communications. Captain Shichihei Ota, Imperial Japanese Navy. Mr. Itaro Ishii, First Class Secretary of Embassy. The Government of Norway: Mr. B. Vogt, Norwegian Minister in London. Mr. L. T. Hansen, Director of the Department of Shipping, Ministry of Commerce and Navigation. Mr. J. Schönheyder, Surveyor-in-Chief of the Ship and Engineer Division, Ministry of Commerce and Navigation. Mr. Arth H. Mathiesen, Vice-President of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association. Captain N. Marstrander, Chairman of the Board of the Norwegian Masters' Association. Mr. A. Birkeland, Manager of the Norwegian Seamen's and Firemen's Union. The Government of the Netherlands: Vice-Admiral C. Fock, Inspector-General of Navigation. Mr. C. H. de Goeje, Ex-Inspector-General of Navigation, Netherland East Indies. Mr. A. van Driel, Adviser on Naval Architecture, Shipping Inspection Service. Mr. J. A. Bland van den Berg, Inspector of Coastal and Ships' Radiotelegraphy. Mr. Phs. van Ommeren, Junior, Chairman of Phs. van Ommeren, Ltd. Mr. H. G. J. Uilkens, Ex-Commodore of the Netherland Steamship Company. The Government of Sweden: Baron Palmstierna, Swedish Minister in London. Mr. Nils Gustaf Nilsson, Assistant Under-Secretary in the Board of Trade. Captain Erik Axel Fredrik Eggert, Maritime Expert to the Social Board. The Government of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics: Mr. Jan Lvovitch Arens, Counsellor to the U. S. S. R. Embassy in Paris. Captain Karl Pavlovitch Eggi, Commander of the Icebreaker "Lenin," Soviet Merchant Fleet (Sovtorgflot). Who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows: CHAPTER I.—PRELIMINARY ARTICLE 1 The Contracting Governments undertake to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention for the purpose of promoting safety of life at sea, to promulgate all regulations and to take all other steps which may be necessary to give the present Convention full and complete effect. The provisions of the present Convention are completed by Regulations contained in Annex I, which have the same force and take effect at the same time as the present Convention. Every reference to the present Convention implies at the same time a reference to the Regulations annexed thereto. ARTICLE 2 Applications and Definitions 1. The provisions of the present Convention shall apply to ships belonging to countries the Governments of which are Contracting Governments, and to ships belonging to territories to which the present Convention is applied under Article 62, as follows: Chapter II. (Construction), to passenger ships (mechanically propelled) on international voyages. Chapter III. (Life-saving Appliances), to passenger ships (mechanically propelled) on international voyages. Chapter IV. (Radiotelegraphy), to all ships engaged on inter- Chapter V. (Safety of Navigation), to all ships on all voyages. 2. The classes of ships to which each chapter applies are more precisely defined, and the extent of the application is shown, in each chapter. 3. In the present Convention, unless expressly provided otherwise(a) a ship is regarded as belonging to a country if it is registered at a port of that country; (b) the expression "Administration" means the Government of the country in which the ship is registered; (c) an international voyage is a voyage from a country to which the present Convention applies to a port outside such country, or conversely; and for this purpose every colony, overseas territory, protectorate or territory under suzerainty or mandate is regarded as a separate country; (d) a ship is a passenger ship if it carries more than 12 passengers; (e) the expression "Regulations" means the Regulations contained in Annex I. 4. The present Convention, unless expressly provided otherwise, does not apply to ships of war. ARTICLE 3 Cases of Force Majeure No ship, which is not subject to the provisions of the present Convention at the time of its departure on any voyage, shall become subject to the provisions of the present Convention on account of any deviation from its intended voyage due to stress of weather or any other cause of force majeure. Persons who are on board a ship by reason of force majeure or in consequence of the obligation laid upon the master to carry shipwrecked or other persons shall not be taken into account for the purpose of ascertaining the application to a ship of any provisions of the present Convention. CHAPTER II.-CONSTRUCTION ARTICLE 4 1. This chapter, except where it is otherwise expressly provided, applies to new passenger ships engaged on international voyages. 2. A new passenger ship is a ship the keel of which is laid on or after the 1st July, 1931, or a ship which is converted to passenger service on or after that date, all other passenger ships being described as existing passenger ships. 3. Each Administration may, if it considers that the route and the conditions of the voyage are such as to render the application of the requirements of this chapter unreasonable or unnecessary, exempt from the requirements of this chapter individual ships or classes of ships belonging to its country which, in the course of their voyage, do not proceed more than 20 miles from the nearest land. 4. In the case of a passenger ship which, in the course of its voyage, does not proceed more than 200 miles from the nearest land, the Administration of the country to which the ship belongs may allow relaxations from such of the requirements of Regulations IX, X, XV and XIX as may be proved to the satisfaction of the Administration to be neither reasonable nor practicable. 5. In the case of existing passenger ships engaged on international voyages which do not already comply with the provisions of this chapter relating to new passenger ships, the arrangements on each ship shall be considered by the Administration of the country to which the ship belongs, with a view to improvements being made to provide increased safety where practicable and reasonable. 6. In the case of passenger ships engaged on international voyages which are employed in the carriage of large numbers of unberthed passengers in special trades, such, for example, as the pilgrim trade, an Administration, if satisfied that it is impracticable to enforce compliance with the requirements of this chapter, may exempt such ships, when they belong to its country, from those requirements on the following conditions: (a) That the fullest provision which the circumstances of the trade will permit shall be made in the matter of construction. (b) That steps shall be taken to formulate general rules which shall be applicable to the particular circumstances of these trades. Such rules shall be formulated in concert with such other Contracting Governments, if any, as may be directly interested in the carriage of such passengers. 7. This chapter does not apply to ships which are not mechanically propelled or to wooden ships of primitive build, such as dhows, junks, &c. ARTICLE 5 Watertight Subdivision of Ships 1. Ships shall be as efficiently subdivided as is possible having regard to the nature of the service for which they are intended. The requirements respecting subdivision are given in the following articles and in the Regulations. 2. The degree of subdivision provided for by these requirements varies with the length of the ship and with the service, in such manner that the highest degree of subdivision corresponds with the ships of greatest length primarily engaged in the carriage of passengers. 3. Regulations I to V indicate the method to be followed in order to determine the degree of subdivision applicable to a ship. 4. In order that the required degree of subdivision shall be maintained, a loadline corresponding to the approved subdivision draft shall be assigned and marked on the ship's sides. A ship having spaces which are specially adapted for the accommodation of passengers and the carriage of cargo alternatively may, if the owners desire, have one or more additional loadlines assigned and marked to correspond with the subdivision drafts which the Administration may approve for the alternative service conditions. The freeboard corresponding to each approved subdivision loadline, and the condi tions of service for which it is approved, shall be clearly indicated on the Safety Certificate. Subdivision loadline shall be marked and recorded in the manner provided in Regulation VII. ARTICLE 6 Peak and Machinery Space Bulkheads, Shaft Tunnels, &c. All ships shall be fitted with watertight forward and after peak bulkheads and with watertight bulkheads at the extremities of the machinery space, and, in screw ships, with watertight shaft tunnels or equivalent subdivision in accordance with the provisions of Regulation VI. ARTICLE 7 Construction, Testing, &c. Regulations VIII to XIII and XV to XXI prescribe rules for(a) the construction and testing of subdivision bulkheads, inner bottoms, watertight decks, trunks, ventilators, fire-resisting bulkheads, &c.; (b) the conditions governing openings in bulkheads, in the ship's sides and in the weather deck, and the character and use of means which shall be provided for closing these openings; (c) the tests and the periodical inspections and operation of the means of closing openings in bulkheads and in the ship's side; (d) exits from watertight compartments; (e) pumping arrangements; and (f) power for going astern and auxiliary steering apparatus. ARTICLE 8 Stability Test Every new passenger ship shall be inclined upon its completion and the elements of its stability determined. The operating personnel shall be supplied with such information on this subject as is necessary to permit efficient handling of the ship. ARTICLE 9 Entries in the Official Log Book A record of the closing and opening of watertight doors, &c., and of all inspections and drills, shall be entered in the official log book as required by Regulation XIV. ARTICLE 10 Initial and Subsequent Surveys of Ships The general principles which shall govern the survey of ships, whether new or existing, as regards hull, main and auxiliary boilers |