In accordance with SOLAS Chapter II-1/Reg. 3-5, new installation of materials which contain asbestos shall be prohibited for all ships from 1 July 2002, except for some cases, e.g., gaskets used under high temperature, etc, and further, those exceptions are not accepted from 1 January 2012.

Meanwhile, IMO pointed out that materials which contain asbestos are still newly installed onboard ships. In response to this, IACS adopted Unified Interpretation UI SC249 which requires the confirmation of asbestos-free declarations and supporting documentation as a verification method for asbestos-free.

This Unified Interpretation is deliberated upon by the IMO at the 90th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC90) held from 16 May 2012 to 25 May 2012, where it is expected to approved. When IMO agrees with this UI, ClassNK will act accordingly and incorporate UI SC249 into our Rules as follows;

(1) New ships: applied to ships constructed on or after 1 July 2012
Please submit asbestos-free declarations and supporting documentation for equipment, component, etc. which are installed for ships constructed on or after 1 July 2012 to ClassNK site office.

(2) Existing ships: applied to the first periodical survey on or after 1 July 2012

i) Please prepare asbestos-free declarations and supporting documentation for equipment, component etc. which are newly installed or exchanged on or after 1 July 2012.

ii) For equipment, component etc. which are purchased before 1 July 2012, asbestos-free declarations and supporting documentation are not required as long as those are stored as spare parts. However, when those equipment, component etc. are exchange and newly installed, please prepare asbestos-free declarations and supporting documentation.

For more information, click here

Source: ClassNK