Turkey has taken a further step towards finalizing its accession
to the Protocol of 1988 relating to the International Convention
for the Safety of Life at Sea 1947 (“1988
Protocol”).
The 1988 Protocol was introduced by the International Conference
on the Harmonized System of Survey and Certification and has
brought important amendments to SOLAS by harmonizing the rules on
the survey and certification systems under SOLAS, the International
Convention on Load Lines 1966 (1966 Load Lines Convention) and the
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships
1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978 (MARPOL 73/78).
Turkey is party to the former Protocol of 1978 but once the
accession process is completed, the 1978 Protocol will be replaced
by the 1988 Protocol. The English and Turkish texts of the 1988
Protocol were recently published in the Official Gazette of the
Republic of Turkey together with the requisite Presidential Decree.
The only step
