Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The Council of the European Union on Tuesday adopted a new law to improve stability requirements for 'ro-ro' (roll-on/roll-off) passenger ships, commonly known as ferries. The new Directive will play an important role in ensuring the safety of both ships and their passengers in the European Union, in accordance with new international standards in this field.
According to a European statement issued in Brussels today, Ro-ro passenger ships provide many sea links within member states, and between member states and other countries. It is therefore of great importance for the transportation of passengers and goods in Europe. The proposal to revise the current directive stemmed from maritime accidents, such as the sinking of the "Estonia" in 1994.
The revised Directive ensures, as far as possible, consistency with established international standards for the stability of damaged passenger ships recently updated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) under the 2020 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Convention).
The International Maritime Organization recently introduced a new model for assessing the survivability of damaged passenger ships, as well as related new requirements. However, these new international standards are not quite in line with the requirements already in force in the Union for new, smaller vessels. Therefore, the new law maintains a level of safety requirements equivalent to the current union law for those ships.
The amended directive also aims to strengthen fleet entry requirements within the Union for existing large vessels that are not yet certified into the Union. The text of the new directive maintains the general intent of the Commission's initial proposal, except that the transfer deadline is extended from 12 to 18 months.