The build date and the 3,000 tonnage line that split accommodation requirements (MLC Regulation 3.1)

Asking whether the accommodation requirements apply to a given ship splits twice. The first split is when the ship was built; the second is gross tonnage. MLC, 2006 Regulation 3.1 and Standard A3.1 put the two dividing lines in different places, so deciding on one leaves the other open.

When the ship was built decides which rules apply

The requirements in the Code implementing this Regulation which relate to ship construction and equipment apply only to ships constructed on or after the date when this Convention comes into force for the Member concerned.

Requirements relating to ship construction and equipment apply only to ships built on or after that date. For ships built before it, the construction and equipment requirements of the Accommodation of Crews Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 92) and the Accommodation of Crews (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1970 (No. 133) continue to apply to the extent they were applicable under the law or practice of the Member concerned before that date.

The provision defines the moment of construction too.

A ship shall be deemed to have been constructed on the date when its keel is laid or when it is at a similar stage of construction.

Keel laying, not delivery. Two ships delivered in the same year can fall on different sides if their keels were laid at different times.

The date that governs differs from one flag State to the next

The provision reads the date when this Convention comes into force for the Member concerned. Not the entry into force of the Convention itself but entry into force for that Member. Ratification lands at different times in different countries, so the date does too.

What that structure means in practice is one thing. Sister ships with the same keel laying date can fall under different rules if they fly different flags. And a change of registry moves the date that governs the ship to the new flag State’s entry into force.

Amendments to the Code look forward the same way.

3. Unless expressly provided otherwise, any requirement under an amendment to the Code relating to the provision of seafarer accommodation and recreational facilities shall apply only to ships constructed on or after the amendment takes effect for the Member concerned.

Unless expressly provided otherwise, a Code amendment on accommodation applies only to ships built after that amendment takes effect.

3,000 tonnage is the second line, and it recurs

Standard A3.1 opens a route for the competent authority to exempt ships of less than 3,000 gross tonnage from several requirements. The exemption is not automatic; it is a decision by the authority after consultation with the shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations concerned.

Requirement	What opens below 3,000 tonnage
An individual sleeping room per seafarer (ships other than passenger ships)	Exemption possible
Mess rooms located apart from sleeping rooms and close to the galley	Exemption possible
Sanitary facilities near the navigating bridge and the machinery space	Exemption possible
Offices for the deck and engine departments	Exemption possible
A sitting room adjoining the rooms of the master, chief engineer and chief navigating officer	Exemption possible

Ships of less than 200 gross tonnage have a further exemption provision. Where reasonable, given the size of the ship and the number of persons on board, certain paragraphs and the floor area part of certain others may be exempted.

The floor area figures split by tonnage band

The floor area floor for a single berth sleeping room falls into three bands.

Tonnage band	Minimum floor area, single berth room
Less than 3,000 tonnage	4.5 square metres
3,000 tonnage or over but less than 10,000 tonnage	5.5 square metres
10,000 tonnage or over	7 square metres

The berth itself has a floor as well: minimum inside dimensions of 198 centimetres by 80 centimetres. And headroom in all accommodation where full and free movement is necessary is not less than 203 centimetres. The competent authority may permit some limited reduction in a space where satisfied it is reasonable and will not result in discomfort to the seafarers.

Inspection reopens at set moments, and the master’s checks run separately

Standard A3.1 paragraph 3 has the inspections required under Regulation 5.1.4 carried out at two moments: when a ship is registered or re-registered, and when the seafarer accommodation has been substantially altered. A change of registry or a conversion of the accommodation reopens the inspection.

Separate from that there are the on-board checks.

18. The competent authority shall require frequent inspections to be carried out on board ships, by or under the authority of the master, to ensure that seafarer accommodation is clean, decently habitable and maintained in a good state of repair. The results of each such inspection shall be recorded and be available for review.

The actor is the master or someone under the master’s authority. The frequency is written only as frequent, which flag State law fills in. What is asked of the result is clear enough: the results of each inspection have to be recorded and available for review. Having carried out the inspection does not by itself satisfy the provision.

Worth confirming

The passages above come from printed pages 44 to 50 of the consolidated MLC, 2006 (including the 2022 amendments). The exemptions in the table exist only where the competent authority has actually granted them after consultation. When the keel was laid, when the Convention entered into force for the flag State, which exemptions are actually in place below 3,000 tonnage, and where the on-board inspection records are kept are where the actual judgement starts.