Emergency Towing Procedures required for

all ships
as of 1st January 2012, SOLAS Regulation 11-1/3-4 of 2008 and the requirements for emergency
towing were amended to apply to all vessels and require all vessels, including tankers, to be
provided with an emergency towing procedure.

The amendment details that all vessels must be provided with a ship-specific emergency towing
procedure, which must be carried on board the ship for use in emergency situations. It must be
based on existing arrangements and equipment available on board the ship. The procedure must
be prepared by the shipowner or operator, not the ship builder, and it must include:

 A quick-reference decision matrix that summarises options under various emergency scenarios,
such as weather conditions, availability of shipboard power (propulsion, on-deck), imminent
danger of grounding, etc.

 Organisation of deck crew (distribution of personnel, equipment, etc.)

 Organisation of tasks (what needs to be done, how it should be done, what is needed for each
task, etc.)

 Drawings of the fore and aft deck showing possible emergency towing arrangements 
Inventory of equipment on board that can be used for emergency towing

 Means and methods of communication.

A copy of the procedure should be kept to hand by the owner or operator in order to facilitate the
passing on of information to the towage company as early as possible in the emergency. A copy
should also be kept in a common electronic file format, which will allow faster distribution to the
concerned parties. A minimum of three copies should be kept on board and located in the bridge,
a forecastle space and the ship’s office or cargo control room.

Members should be aware that the procedure does not need the approval of the classification
society or the vessel’s flag state administration, but attending surveyors will check for
compliance and ISM auditors may examine the procedures. Source information: IMO MSC,
1/Circular 1255 Guidelines for owners/operators on preparing emergency towing procedures.

SOLAS 1974 Chapter V, regulation 15-1 requires all tankers of 20,000 tonnes deadweight and above,
including oil, chemical and gas tankers, to be provided with an emergency towing arrangement at both
ends of the ship. This requirement has been in force since 1st January 1996 for new vessels built after
that date. For existing vessels, the deadline was set at their first scheduled docking after 1st January
1996, but not later than 1st January 1999. By the end of this year, all tankers above 20,000 tonnes
deadweight must therefore have such arrangement in place.
2012-01-01
SOLAS II-I/3-4 MSC.256(84) Cargo ships constructed before 2010.01.01
Emergency towing arrangement for tankers is extended to all ship types. All ships
must have a ship-specific emergency towing procedure.
See MSC.1/Circ.1255 for guidelines.

Since January 1, 2012, all cargo and passenger ships 500 gross tons or larger and tankers 20,000
deadweight tons or larger have been required to maintain an on-board emergency towing booklet
containing ship-specific emergency towing procedures. Shipboard personnel are required to be trained i
n these procedures.
Emergency towing equipment and emergency towing drills are required on tankers of 20,000 deadweight
tons or larger. Emergency to wing equipment and drills are not required on cargo and
Passenger ships, but are encouraged.