Georgia Ratifies Load Lines Convention

Georgia is the 112th State to accede to the International Convention on Load Lines (1988 Protocol), announced  International Maritime Organization (IMO).

According to the UN body, limitations on the draught to which a ship may be loaded are included in the treaty, making a significant contribution to the ship's safety. These limits are given in the form of freeboards.

The treaty takes into account the potential hazards present in different ocean zones and different seasons, it said.

The 1988 Protocol updates and revises the earlier treaty. The technical annex contains several additional safety measures concerning doors, freeing ports, hatchways and other items. These measures help to ensure the watertight and weathertight integrity of ships' hulls below the freeboard deck. All assigned load lines must be marked amidships on each side of the ship, together with the deck line.

Tamar Beruchashvili, Ambassador of Georgia and Permanent Representative of Georgia to IMO, met IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim at IMO Headquarters in London (28 March) to deposit the instrument of accession.