Blog 154 - TITANIC - PART XIV - ONE SINKING GIVES BIRTH TO ‘SOLAS’
- ranganathanblog
- Feb 28
- 9 min read
TITANIC ERA MARITIME LAWS
The Merchant Shipping Act of 1894 and the Merchant Shipping Act of 1906 were applicable when the Titanic sank in 1912.
The Titanic Era laws for Life Saving Appliances were governed by a 1902 law, which updated some of the provisions of the 1894 law..
The regulations of the day, drawn up in 1894, stated that vessels larger than 10,000 gross tons had to be equipped with a minimum number of 16 lifeboats, with a total capacity of 9,625 cubic feet, with enough capacity to carry 960 persons, or 60 persons in each lifeboat.
The Act of 1894 - consisting of 334 pages - referred to various subjects under various headings and included a chapter on Life Saving Appliances, Emergency Measures etc.
The problem was that the laws did not keep pace with the rapid pace of development of that era. The Industrial Revolution and its massive number of innovations that came along with it, was beyond the conceptualisation of the powers-that-be and the effect it had on all industries, including shipping.
Trans-Atlantic migration had been taking place since the 1600s, with small ships - the Mayflower being the famous one - crossing the Atlantic on ships with sails.
The Mayflower had 102 passengers and the voyage took more than 65 days to reach Plymouth. As the years went by, sail designs improved and ships started doing the voyage in 55 days., with more number of passengers.
With the advent of steam engines and steel hulled ships, the size of the ships escalated and the number of passengers that could be carried imploded.
Maritime laws did not keep up with the increase in a phased manner.
Another negative was the fact that each nation had its own laws. There was no standard set of regulations for the shipping industry to follow. So, laws varied from region to region.
Although there were several Classification Societies in existence during the Titanic Era, ship owners were not obliged to register their ships. Example - the Titanic was not classed with any Society. They only followed Ministry of Trade guidelines. The inspections prior registry of the sip was more cursory than detailed, due to the massive reputations of the ship builders and ship owners.
SOLAS THEN AND NOW
After the sinking of the Titanic on 15th April 1912, there was a general consensus that there should be a framed set of mandatory laws for the maritime industry to follow. One of the most meaningful acts of commission was the formation of a body “Safety of Life at Sea’, SOLAS, which acronym reverberates through the shipping world more than century after its formation in 1913. The influence of SOLAS on the daily lives of sea farers and ships is stupendous.
Although SOLAS was formed in 1913, it could not hold its formal sessions till the end of the First World War in 1918.
SOLAS 1914:
The stated objectives of the 1913 SOLAS convention were
Establish minimum safety standards for the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships. Primarily aimed at protecting human lives at sea. This was in direct response, triggered by the sinking of the Titanic, which highlighted the need for formal emergency procedures and better safety procedures.
Key points of these 1914 objectives:
Lifeboats: Ensuring, by law, the provision of sufficient Life Boats and Emergency equipment for ALL on board (meaning Passengers and Crew).
Fire Safety Measures
Radio Communications : Mandatory continuous monitoring of the radio Equipment for distress messages. It was made mandatory for ships above a certain GRT to equip themselves with Wireless Sets, with smaller vessels being recommended to fit one. The Wireless Operators should hold license of competence.
Navigation Practices : Standards for Safe Navigation procedures.
Ice Patrol : An International Ice Patrol was proposed and launched, to monitor the condition of ice in the ice prone areas, with warnings being given on the Radio Traffic to all vessels.
A Brief Time Line of Events in the Maritime World from the Inception of SOLAS in 1913 to the forming of IMO in 1982.
If we look at each version of SOLAS, we can find that the SOLAS updated versions - nearly always - were amended and came into force only after a casualty that caught the attention of the world.
The SOLAS 1929 version came into being only in the aftermath of the sinking of the ss Vestris in 1928.
ss Vestris
The ss Vestris was a small passenger ship carrying a crew of about 190 and passengers of about 150. Reports state that it was one of the worst maintained ships of the time, with a disgruntled, and sometimes mutinous, crew Lifeboats and lifeboat equipment like falls etc, also were not maintained properly. In 1928, she sailed out of New York, already beyond her Plimsoll marks, with a starboard list.
Encountering gale force winds in the open sea, leaks were discovered one after another that started flooding various parts of the ship. The first was a ship side valve in the Engine Room, then a coal bunker port.
Pumps were put into operation, but they could not cope with the rate of ingress.
The Captain, fearing the cost of salvage for the Owners, delayed sending out an SOS till nearly 20 hours had passed.
When, finally, abandon ship orders were given, one lifeboat fell - broken falls - on to another full boat that was already in the water, killing people. Other boats also had trouble. To make matters worse, the crew rebelled and wanted to go down in the boats before the passengers. Mishap after mishap with the life boats meant that there were more and more passengers foundering in the water than were in the life boats.
Suffice it to say that the negligence of the ship, captain and company came to the limelight, causing a demand for righting the wrongs of an inept SOLAS, finally giving rise to the SOLAS 1929 version.
This was the first version to build upon the 1914 version and concentrated on safety standards, hull vulnerability and fire proof bulk heads, taking advantage of the scientific developments that had taken place in the 1 ½ decades since the the Titanic sinking and incorporating them into the guidelines for ship building.
Meanwhile the United Nations was formed, post the Second World War, in 1945. I make a special mention of the United Nations, as that was the body under whose umbrella several shipping related bodies, conventions were born.
The Inter Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation - the forerunner to today’s IMO - was established in 1948.
From a Consultative Organisation to a full fledged, authority of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) - took about 32 years, as it needed the ratification of at least 21 countries, 7 of whom had to have a shipping capacity of a million gross tons each.
Interestingly, there is a protocol of how to go about ratifying a new code, an article, an amendment. Depending on the code, it requires a specific number of countries with a specified gross tonnage registered under their flag to ratify the code, before it can be mandated. (Maybe a separate article on this).
The Third SOLAS convention of 1948 was more hot air than substance, as the provisions of the Convention - Fire safety measures, Structural Integrity - were not mandated till 1962.
The Fourth SOLAS Convention of 1960 introduced the carriage of liife rafts for cargo ships. Previously only passenger ships were mandated to carry them.
Sufficient manning for vessels.
Made it mandatory for Masters to respond to the calls of another vessel in distress.
Probably the first time that ‘voyage planning’ was mentioned, asking food improved voyage planning on the basis of route, weather etc.
After this first mention, ‘Voyage Planning’ became more and more the mantra in subsequent Conventions. Today’s Class Audits (Auditors) spend a considerable amount of time on the documentation that goes into ‘Voyage Planning’. Masters and Second Mates are taken to task for lapses.
The Fifth SOLAS Convention of 1974 was the Father of all Conventions. Even today, all amendments refer to the 1974 Convention.
It replaced all past SOLAS Conventions and instituted new statutes.
One of the major clauses mandated was the method of ratification of any amendments. Previously, a specific number of countries / gross tonnage needed to ratify for an amendment to be enforced. This was changed tto a provision where where a certain minimum number of member states / gross tonnage had to object within a stipulated period, otherwise the amendment stands automatically ratified.
In today’s shipping world the 1974 Convention Guidelines form the Bible by which Merchant Shipping acts, is ruled.
All indicators point to a major SOLAS Convention to be held soon, to replace the 1974 Convention, as Shipping Technology and associate technologies have changed the shipping scenario.
What has changed between the sinking of the Passenger Ship Titanic and modern day Passenger Ships (2025)?
Life Boats were the contentious issue on the passenger ship Titanic and, in the aftermath of the sinking, the lack of lifeboats became the talking point.
So, how does the Titanic compare with a modern passenger liner or cruise ship in terms of Life Saving Appliances?
Titanic - Requirement - 16 Life Boats Minimum
Titanic - Life Jackets for all on board
For Modern Passenger / Cruise Ships
37.5% of the Passengers and Crew should be capable of being accommodated in Life Boats on one side.
37.5% on the other side.
The remaining 25 % are to be accommodated in Life rafts.
Communications :
The Titanic had a Marconi Wireless Communication set, range a maximum of 600 nautical miles, that in the night.
Modern day passenger and cargo vessels have GMDSS and, being connected to navigation Satellites, have a world wide reach.
Two Two Way VHF sets, one on either side.
Search and Rescue Locating devices (SART), one on either side. The raadio and the SART to be capable of being transferred to Life Boats.
Distress Flares were carried by the ‘Titanic’. Present day ships carry them as per Reg 3.1 of the Code.
As far as inter ship communications were concerned, the Titanic had voice communication between the bridge ~ crow’s nest ~ engine room ~ aft steering.
Although the ‘Titanic’ was not the first ship to have Emergency Steering in that era, its very many attributes became the bench mark for future generations of sailors and ship builders. Were the Telemotor to malfunction, the Titanic had an emergency local control for steering.
Present day ships also have emergency communications and emergency local steering control.
Unlike the Titanic, modern day vessels are equipped with Public Address System in two loops, one connected to the Emergency Power Source.
Life Saving Appliances
Lifebuoys: Although in existence during the Titanic era, present day SOLAS has mandated that half the Lifebuoys are to be equipped with Self Igniting Lights.
Life Jackets: The same provision of 100% Life Jackets for all passengers and crew applied to both, the Titanic era and the present day.
Today’s provisions include Life Jackets for children, storage of Life jackets for crew working in remote areas of the ship etc.
Immersion Suits and anti - Exposure Suits: Depending on areas of operation of the Passenger Ships, Immersion Suits have to be provided for all passengers. Had the Titanic passengers had them, loss of lives would have been drastically reduced. Crudely designed Immersion Suits - compared to the more slick designs of the modern era - were available in the Titanic period.
Of course, the Immersion Suits of today improve the chances of rescue, as it affords protection for long periods of time in cold waters. SOLAS has mentioned 6 hours survival, but experiments have found that for a person with an Immersion Suit, hypothermia sets in after nearly 12 hours, as long as water ingress has not taken place.
Muster Stations, Muster Stations, Drills
One of the most glaring of inconsistencies on the part of Capt Smith of the Titanic was the fact that he did not give permission to the Chief Mate, who had planned a 11 AM Boat Drill for all passengers on the morning of the fateful day. Had he done so, the passengers would have known what they were required to do in the event of an ‘Abandon Ship’ order.
There is no mention of a ‘Muster List’ in the numerous Titanic articles.
Present day regulations clearly state the display of ‘Muster Lists’ at various locations.
Rules also state the conduct of drills before departure.
Life Boats and Survival Craft
Present day regulations for passenger ships state that Life Boats on each side should be capable off accommodating 37.5% of the passengers and crew, making a total of 75%. The other 25% are to be taken care of by Life Rafts.
It is probable that I am missing some details here. The immediate question that came to my mind is “What happens when the vessel suffers a list to one side and, consequently, is unable to launch one side life boats?”
A recent incident that comes to mind is that of the ‘Costa Concordia’, which hit a rock, flooded and came to rest on her starboard side. 32 were killed.
Only a small number of life boats were launched due to the extreme list. There were 28 lifeboats on board.
Similarly, very few - only 3 - Life Rafts were launched. There were 69 life rafts on board.
There were 3206 passengers and 1023 crew on board, of which 27 and 5 died. Had she capsized in deeper waters, the death count would have exceeded the Titanic’s. Because she floundered in shallow waters, nearby boats, rescue craft, helicopters assisted in evacuating all but 32.
The rescue operation took 6 hours. The majority of the passengers and crew were lucky that the vessel did not sink, but had capsized.
As for the captain of the Costa Concordia, the less said the better. He has recently applied for leniency as he has completed 8 years of a 16 year sentence.
The point I am trying to make is that we still have not reached any defensible method of rescue of passengers and crew, unless conditions are favourable, the list is not too much and other crucial favourable factors.
The Sea is relentless. She frames her own laws and regulations which we are unable to match.
AR
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