COMDTINST 16711.12A
JUL 10 1996
under Article 1 do not extend to uninspected ships, including towboats of less than 300
tons. The U.S. further understood that fish processing vessels of not more than 5000
tons and fish tender vessels of not more than 500 tons are considered ships engaged in
fishing or in whaling or in similar pursuits and therefore not subject to ILO 147.
c.
Substantive obligations are established in Article 2, which requires that ratifying States
undertake to have laws or regulations for the ships registered in their territory which are
"substantially equivalent" to those of the fifteen Conventions or Articles of the
Conventions referred to in the Appendix to ILO Convention No. 147. The U.S. has
ratified three of the fifteen Conventions cited in the Appendix. These are: the
Minimum Age (Sea) Convention (Revised) 1936 (No. 58); the Shipowner's Liability
(Sick and Injured Seamen) Convention, 1936 (No. 55); and, the Officer's Competency
Certificates Convention, 1936, (No. 53). The U.S. has laws bringing into force the
Conventions which it has ratified.
d.
In addition, the U.S. has a variety of domestic laws and regulations which are regarded
as being "substantially equivalent" to the conditions sought by the remaining twelve
Conventions. Our instrument of ratification included an understanding that the term
"substantially equivalent" as it appears in Article 2(a) requires the ratifying state to take
account of the general goal of the instruments in the Appendix, but does not require it to
adhere to the precise terms of the instruments. This means that national laws and
regulations may be different in detail, if the ratifying state has satisfied itself that the
general goals of the instruments in the Appendix are respected. Thus no specific
implementing legislation was necessary to bring the U.S. into conformity with the
requirements of Article 2.
e.
Article 4 provides for PSC actions. A member state, in whose ports a ship calls in the
normal course of its business or for operational reasons, which receives a complaint or
obtains evidence that the ship does not conform to the standards of ILO Convention No.
147, may take measures necessary to rectify any conditions on
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