imo and the safety of fishing vessels: past, present and future

on lighting, heating and ventilation; sleeping rooms; mess rooms; sanitary facilities; hospital
accommodation; potable water facilities; provision stores; and cooking and beverage facilities.
8.3.- FAO/ILO/IMO Voluntary Guidelines for the Design, Construction and Equipment of Small Fishing
Vessels
The history of the development of the voluntary Guidelines started in the mentioned meeting of consultants on
safety on board fishing vessels, jointly convened in 1974 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Maritime Organization
(IMO), for the purpose of finalizing the text of part B of the Code of Safety for Fishermen and Fishing Vessels,
which applies to vessels of 24 metres in length and over.
It was recommended that the three Organizations should continue to co-operate with a view to establishing
voluntary guidelines for the design, construction and equipment of vessels of less than 24 metres in length.
Subsequently the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of IMO took note of the aforementioned recommendation
and requested its Sub-Committee on Safety of Fishing Vessels to develop such guidelines in co-operation with
FAO and ILO.
It should be noted again that the Torremolinos Convention applies only to fishing vessels of 24 metres in
length and over, people should be aware of that the vast majority of fishing vessels throughout the world are of
less than 24 metres in length. Consequently, it was adopted a resolution recommending that IMO continue to
develop safety standards for design, construction and equipment of such fishing vessels with a view to
promoting the safety of these vessels and their crews.
FAO, ILO and IMO finalized the original text of the Voluntary Guidelines at the twenty-first and twenty-second
sessions of the IMO Sub-Committee on Stability and Load Lines and on Fishing Vessels Safety (SLF). The
Guidelines were approved by the MSC at its forty-first session in October 1979 and by the FAO in November
1979 for circulation to Governments. The ILO Governing Body was informed at its 211th session in November
1979 of the intention to publish this document.
It was pointed out, however, that some parts of the Guidelines required further development. These mainly
concerned stability criteria, which were considered at that time as being only tentative. Bearing in mind that
development of appropriate stability criteria for any type of fishing vessel is a very complex problem, which has
not been entirely solved even for larger vessels, the International Conference on Safety of Fishing Vessels,
1977, adopted a resolution recommending that IMO continue studies with the aim of formulating detailed
stability standards for fishing vessels.
Following the adoption of the Torremolinos Protocol of 1993 relating to the Torremolinos International
Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977, the MSC undertook the review of the FAO/ILO/IMO Code
of Safety for Fishermen and Fishing Vessels, Part A and Part B.
At the same time, it also decided to review the Voluntary Guidelines for the Design, Construction and
Equipment of Small Fishing Vessels. In requesting the SLF Sub-Committee to review the Guidelines, the MSC
recommended that the concerns expressed in paragraph 5 above, as well as recent developments in fishing
vessel design and fishing operations should be taken into consideration.
FAO, ILO and IMO completed the task of reviewing and revising the Voluntary Guidelines and the final text
was approved by the MSC at its seventy-ninth session in 2004.
Purpose and Scope
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