Safety management of roll-on/roll-off (Ro-ro) passenger ferries

The Commission incorporated most of the European Parliament's amendments at first reading in its amended proposal. These amendments seek mainly to: - make improving maritime safety the main objective of this regulation; - ensure that the international safety and management code is applied uniformly and coherently in the Member States; - change the meaning of "regular service" (voyage by a ro-ro ferry providing transportation between the same two points at least on the basis of a published timetable or which is regular or frequent enough to give the impression that it is a regular service); - change the meaning of "sheltered waters" (area in which the annual probability of the significant wave height exceeding 1.5 metres is less than 10% and in which a ro-ro ferry is at no time more than six nautical miles from a place where shipwrecked persons can land); - delay the application of the provisions of the regulation to companies operating regular ro-ro ferry services between ports in the same Member State exclusively in sheltered waters to 1 July 1997; - make the safety management certificate and safety documents valid for five years from the date of issue, subject to annual verification of each of these documents and any changes made being in compliance with the ISM Code; - evaluate the regulation after it has been in force for three years and make any suitable proposals as a result. The Commission also incorporated the amendment seeking to allow Greek companies not to apply this regulation until 31 December 1997, provided that these ferries offer a regular service exclusively between Greek ports. However, it did not incorporate the amendment seeking to add a definition of "seagoing vessel", a number of recitals which it considered superfluous or a new article determining the liability of companies where certain agents have committed acts of negligence.�