ANNEX
DRAFT MSC CIRCULAR
VERSION A
APPLICATION OF PLANS FOR CO-OPERATION WITH SAR SERVICES TO CRUISE SHIPS
1 Regulation V/15 (c) of the SOLAS Convention provides that plans for co-operation between passenger ships trading on fixed routes and search and rescue services shall be developed and approved by Administrations.
2 The concept of fixed route poses no problems of interpretation when the regulation is applied to regular ro-ro passenger ship routes. However, uncertainty arises in the case of cruise ships which used to be differentiated from ships on regular routes.
Some regions of the world are crossed by many cruise ships. Some of these ships only come occasionally, but others, offer the same type of cruise in the same sector over several years. These ships carry large numbers of passengers whose average age, moreover, is often fairly high. It would be useful, therefore, for these ships to have plans for co-operation with SAR services, since apart from disasters or serious accidents, such plans for co-operation would be of considerable help to captains and SAR services in the case of circumstances quite frequent in the life of the ship such as minor breakdowns or medical evacuation.
3 Although they do not operate on a "route" in the normal sense, cruise ships should be regarded as following a "fixed route" as soon as they come with a certain frequency (determined below) to a given sector, even if the order of ports of call varies from one voyage to another, and the frequency of voyages is not regular.
4 That is why the attention of the Administrations concerned as well as shipowners or captains of cruise ships is drawn to the fact that the development of plans for co-operation with SAR services in the areas they frequent is mandatory when the ships operating programme provides that it will make more than [three] voyages in the sector in question in the next [six] months.
If the frequency of voyages is close to the above criterion but does not meet it, shipowners or captains are recommended to develop such plans voluntarily.
You are reminded that these plans must be developed in accordance with MSC/Circ.864 "Guidelines for preparing plans for co-operation between search and rescue services and passenger ships on fixed routes (in accordance with SOLAS regulation V/15 (c))".
