Maritime safety: ship inspection and survey organisations

The common position, which was adopted unanimously, sets out the measures to be observed by Member States and the agencies responsible for surveying, inspecting and certifying ships with a view to ensuring that they comply with international conventions on safety at sea and the prevention of pollution from ships. According to the common position, the minimum criteria applicable to the agencies in question are contained in the following general provisions: the approved agency must be able to prove that it has extensive experience in evaluating, designing and building merchant ships and must class at least 1,000 ocean-going ships of at least 100 GRT. It must employ a technical staff in proportion to the number of ships classed and must publish an annual register of the ships under its control. It must not be controlled by shipowners or builders or other persons working in this commercial sector. In addition, the Member States undertake to subject third country ships not classed by shipping registers to port inspections as a matter of priority. The Member States must comply with the directive by 1 January 1996.�