Guidance

Annex C: Stowage and Securing - Cargo Securing Manual

Updated 28 May 2024

1. 1.1 SOLAS Chapter VI, regulation 5 requires that all cargoes, cargo units and cargo transport units are loaded, stowed and secured throughout the voyage in accordance with the ship’s Cargo Securing Manual approved by the Administration.

2. 1.2 Approval of the Cargo Securing Manual for UK ships is carried out using the IMO’s Revised Guidelines of the preparation of the Cargo Securing Manual (MSC.1/Circ.1353/Rev.2) for guidance, hereinafter referred to as the “Guidelines”.

3. 1.3 Notwithstanding the approval of the manual by the Administration, it is the responsibility of the ship operator and the master to ensure that cargo units are secured safely on board.

4. 1.4 The manual should be easy to use and should contain information that is directly applicable to the ship. Information that is not directly related to the ship should not be included in it.

5. 1.5 The layout of the information should follow that shown in the Guidelines using the headings and subheadings in the order they appear in the Guidelines. Where there is no information that can be included under a heading because it refers to a type of ship other than the one for which the manual is being drawn up, the words ‘not applicable’ should be entered under the heading or the heading omitted altogether.

6. 1.6 Other documents or manuals should cover cargo transport falling outside the scope of the requirements of the Code of Safe Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing (CSS Code) such as the transport of livestock. A reference to such documents should be made in the Cargo Securing Manual. This may be achieved by an entry in its ‘contents’ page.

7. 1.7 The pages of the manual should be consecutively numbered and all text, drawings etc. should be clearly legible. There should be pages to record the dates when the manual is changed to reflect changes in plans or equipment.

8. 1.8 The Cargo Securing Manual may be combined with other operations manuals provided the sections relating to the Guidelines are kept distinct from other matters.

9. 1.9 The headings, layout and format of the manual should also conform to the following sub paragraphs.

   1. i. The text of the ‘Preamble’ in the Guidelines should be copied in full in the manual except for the third and fourth paragraphs. This text should be replaced by:- “This Cargo Securing Manual has been prepared in accordance with the guidance in IMO Circular MSC.1/Circ.1353/Rev.2 –Revised Guidelines of the preparation of the Cargo Securing Manual”. The word ‘preamble’ may be changed to ‘introduction’.

   2. ii. The definitions from paragraph 1.1 of the Guidelines should be reproduced. A further definition for cargo unit may be added as follows:- “Cargo unit means wheeled cargo, vehicle, container, flat, pallet, portable tank, packaged unit or any other entity and loading equipment or any part thereof, which belongs to the ship and which is not fixed to the ship.”

   3. iii. The text from paragraph 1.3.1 of the Guidelines may be modified to read:-“The information in the cargo securing manual should not rule out the principles of good seamanship nor replace experience in stowage and securing practice””

   4. iv. In the manual for a roll on roll off ship, the text of paragraph 1.3.4 of the Guidelines should be extended to include the sentence:-“All securing of cargo units in accordance with the Cargo Securing Manual should be completed before the ship leaves the berth.”

   5. v. Chapter 2 of the manual should contain as much detail as possible directly related to the ship. Use should be made of plans or sketches but if these are too cumbersome, tables or lists may be used instead provided that the location of the devices on the ship, their type, total number of each device and other relevant details are clearly shown.

   6. vi. For a roll on roll off ship, the matters covered by paragraph 3.4 of the Guidelines may be combined with that contained in paragraph 2.1 of the Guidelines when drafting paragraph 2.1 of the manual.

   7. vii. Inspection and maintenance schemes referred to in paragraph 2.3 of the Guidelines may be contained in a separate document or booklet provided that the relevant paragraph in the manual contains a clear reference to this document and its location.

   8. viii. In paragraph 3.1 of the manual, handling and safety instructions specific to the ship should be provided. It should be assumed that general health and safety and the risks from the application, removal and manual handling of securing and lashing equipment does not differ significantly from other general procedures and are covered elsewhere. Therefore, phrases of a general nature should be avoided. Specific points raised by the equipment manufacturers or from a risk assessment of specific methods to be used or from experience in the use of particular procedures, should be covered in detail.

   9. ix. For information on the evaluation of forces acting on cargo units required by paragraph 3.2.1 of the manual, reference may be made to the ship’s approved stability booklet, or if more accurate information is available, from any other more authoritative source. This section should contain:-

      1. a. a broad outline of the accelerations that can be expected at various positions;

      2. b. examples of the resulting forces on the cargo units;

      3. c. angles of roll and metacentric height values above which the forces acting on the cargo units exceed the permissible limit for specific securing arrangements; and

      4. d. worked examples on the number and strength of the portable devices to counteract the resulting forces on cargo units.

10. 1.10     It is not intended to introduce new, mandatory standards for cargo securing equipment. However, such equipment should reflect appropriate recognised national or international standards for the specification and testing of such equipment.