Safety requirements
Article 6
1. With regard to new and existing passenger ships of Classes A, B, C and D: (a) the construction and maintenance of the hull, main and auxiliary machinery, electrical and automatic plants shall comply with the standards specified for classification by the rules of a recognised organisation, or equivalent rules used by an Administration in accordance with Article 14(2) of Directive 94/57/EC; (b) the provisions of Chapters IV, including the 1988 GMDSS amendments, V and VI of the 1974 SOLAS Convention, as amended, shall apply; (c) the provisions for shipborne navigational equipment of Regulation 12, Chapter V of the 1974 SOLAS Convention, as amended, shall apply. Shipborne navigational equipment, as listed in Annex A.1 to Directive 96/98/EC and complying with the provisions of the latter, shall be considered to be in conformity with the type approval requirements of SOLAS regulation V/12(r), as amended. 2. With regard to new passenger ships: (a) general requirements: (i) new passenger ships of Class A shall comply entirely with the requirements of the 1974 SOLAS Convention, as amended, and with the specific relevant requirements specified in this Directive; for those regulations for which the 1974 SOLAS Convention, as amended, leaves the interpretation to the discretion of the Administration, the Administration of the flag State shall apply the interpretations as contained in Annex I to this Directive; (ii) new passenger ships of Classes B, C, and D shall comply with the specific relevant requirements specified in this Directive; (b) load line requirements: (i) all new passenger ships of 24 metres in length and above shall comply with the 1966 International Convention on Load Lines; (ii) criteria with a level of safety equivalent to those of the 1966 International Convention on Load Lines shall be applied, in relation to length and Class, to new passenger ships of less than 24 metres in length; (iii) notwithstanding points (i) and (ii), new passenger ships of Class D are exempted from the minimum bow height requirement laid down in the 1966 International Convention on Load Lines; (iv) new passenger ships of Classes A, B, C, and D shall have a full deck. 3. With regard to existing passenger ships: (a) existing passenger ships of Class A shall comply with the regulations for existing passenger ships defined in the 1974 SOLAS Convention, as amended, and with the specific relevant requirements in this Directive; for those regulations for which the 1974 SOLAS Convention, as amended, leaves the interpretation to the discretion of the Administration, the Administration of the flag State shall apply the interpretations as contained in Annex I to this Directive; (b) existing passenger ships of Class B shall comply with the specific relevant requirements in this Directive; (c) existing passenger ships of Classes C and D shall comply with the specific relevant requirements in this Directive and in respect of matters not covered by such requirements with the rules of the Administration of the flag State; such rules shall provide an equivalent level of safety to that of Chapters II-1 and II-2 of Annex I, while taking into account the specific local operational conditions related to the sea areas in which ships of such classes may operate; before existing passenger ships of Classes C and D can be engaged on regular domestic voyages in a host State, the Administration of the flag State shall obtain concurrence of the host State on such rules; (d) where a Member State is of the view that rules required by the Administration of the host State pursuant to point (c) are unreasonable, it shall immediately notify the Commission thereof; the Commission shall initiate proceedings in order to take a decision in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 11(2); (e) repairs, alterations and modifications of a major character and outfitting related thereto shall be in compliance with the requirements for new ships as prescribed in point (a) of paragraph 2; alterations made to an existing ship which are intended solely to achieve a higher survivability standard shall not be regarded as modifications of a major character; (f) the provisions of point (a), unless earlier dates are specified in the 1974 SOLAS Convention, as amended, and the provisions of points (b) and (c), unless earlier dates are specified in Annex I to this Directive, shall not be applied in relation to a ship the keel of which was laid or which was at a similar stage of construction: (i) before 1 January 1940: until 1 July 2006; (ii) on or after 1 January 1940 but before 31 December 1962: until 1 July 2007; (iii) on or after 1 January 1963 but before 31 December 1974: until 1 July 2008; (iv) on or after 1 January 1975 but before 31 December 1984: until 1 July 2009; (v) on or after 1 January 1985 but before 1 July 1998: until 1 July 2010. 4. With regard to high-speed passenger craft: (a) high-speed passenger craft constructed or subjected to repairs, alterations or modifications of a major character on or after 1 January 1996 shall comply with the requirements of Regulation X/3 of the 1974 SOLAS Convention, as amended, unless: (i) their keel was laid or they were at a similar stage of construction not later than 4 June 1998, (ii) delivery and commissioning has taken place not later than 4 December 1998, and (iii) they fully comply with the requirements of the Code of Safety for Dynamically Supported Craft (DSC Code) contained in IMO Assembly Resolution A.373(X) of 14 November 1977, as amended by Maritime Safety Committee Resolution MSC 37(63) of 19 May 1994; (b) high-speed passenger craft constructed before 1 January 1996 and complying with the requirements of the High-Speed Craft Code shall continue operation certified under that Code; high-speed passenger craft constructed before 1 January 1996 and not complying with the requirements of the High-Speed Craft Code may not be engaged on domestic voyages unless they were already in operation on domestic voyages in a Member State on 4 June 1998, in which case they may be allowed to continue their domestic operation in that Member State; such craft shall comply with the requirements of the DSC Code; (c) the construction and maintenance of high-speed passenger craft and their equipment shall comply with the rules for the classification of high-speed craft of a recognised organisation, or equivalent rules used by an Administration in accordance with Article 14(2) of Directive 94/57/EC.