Ship Type:
Ship Service:
Gross Tonnage:
Date Built: Day:Month:Year:



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How to use this guide: Enter the description of the ship of interest in the form above. Click on "Display required navigation systems". The navigation systems required will appear in a new window. These systems may be separate functions of an integrated navigation system (INS), separate components, or a combination of both. Click the "Calculate another ship" button on the list to return to this page to create a list for a different ship.
   
Type, Service, and Date Built: As defined by the SOLAS Convention.
   
About this guide: The navigation equipment requirements in this guide come from Chapter V of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), and include the SOLAS requirements up to and including the amendments adopted in 2009, which came into force 1 July 2010.
The list refers to various versions of SOLAS, such as "SOLAS 1981" and "SOLAS 2000". Since not all navigation equipment requirements are retroactive when they are adopted, requirements for older ships are derived from both new and older SOLAS versions.
"SOLAS 1981" refers to the major revision of SOLAS Chapter V adopted in 1981 and which came into force 1 September 1984. This guide does not attempt to accurately list equipment required on ships built before 1 September 1984. However, a ship built before 1 September 1984, but equipped with the systems required on a ship built on that date, will meet or exceed all navigation equipment requirements that apply to it. Requirements identified as "SOLAS 1981" include some revisions that were adopted between 1981 and 2000.
"SOLAS 2000" refers to the major revision of SOLAS Chapter V adopted in 2000, and which came into force 1 July 2002. It also includes the December 2002 amendments on Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) which came into force on 1 July 2003. Other SOLAS references such as "SOLAS 2004" refer to amendments adopted in that year.
   
Comments and Questions: [email protected]
   
Permissions: RTCM welcomes external links to this Web page. If this Web page or parts thereof are incorporated into another site, credit "Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM)" and include a link to our site (www.rtcm.org).
   
Version 1.1: Includes St. Lawrence Seaway Final Rule, March 2003.
   
Version 1.2: Corrects Passenger Ship VDR for ships built before 1 July 2002. Revises requirement for AIS on Tankers in U.S. waters to conform to U.S. Coast Guard regulations of 1 July 2003 (i.e. same as SOLAS). Adds Panama Canal requirement.
   
Version 1.3 - July 2007: Adds SOLAS revisions adopted in December 2004 (SOLAS 2004), including requirements for Voyage Data Recorders (VDR) or simplified VDR (S-VDR) on existing cargo ships. Adds reference to LRIT requirements.
   
   
Version 1.4 - July 2010: Adds SOLAS revisions coming into force 1 July 2010 for Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm Systems (BNWAS) and Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS)
   
Version 1.4.1 - November 2012: Corrects applicability of BNWAS requirement for ships built before 1 July 2002