The International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 (1966 LL Convention) was adopted by the International Conference on Load Lines on 5 April 1966 and entered into force on 21 July 1968. It has since been amended by means of Assembly resolutions as follows:

.1 by Assembly resolution A.231(VII), which was adopted on 12 October 1971;

.2 by Assembly resolution A.319(IX), which was adopted on 12 November 1975;

.3 by Assembly resolution A.411(XI), which was adopted on 15 November 1979;

.4 by Assembly resolution A.513(13), which was adopted on 17 November 1983; and

.5 by Assembly resolution A.784(19), which was adopted on 23 November 1995.

Part 1 International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 Articles of the Convention

Annex I: Regulations for determining load lines

Chapter I ­ General

Chapter II ­ Conditions of assignment of freeboard

Chapter III ­ Freeboards

Chapter IV ­ Special requirements for ships assigned timber freeboards

Annex II: Zones, areas and seasonal periods

Annex III: Certificates

Part 2 Articles of the Protocol of 1988 relating to the Convention

Part 3 International Convention on Load Lines, 1966, as modified by the 1988 Protocol relating thereto, as amended

Annex A: Articles of the Convention as modified by the Protocol of 1988 relating thereto

Annex B: Annexes to the Convention as modified by the Protocol of 1988 relating thereto

Annex I: Regulations for determining load lines

Chapter I ­ General

Chapter II ­ Conditions of assignment of freeboard

Chapter III ­ Freeboards

Chapter IV ­ Special requirements for ships assigned timber freeboards

Annex II: Zones, areas and seasonal periods

Annex III: Certificates

Part 4 Amendments to the 1988 Protocol that have not yet been accepted by sufficient parties to be able to come into force ResolutionMSC.172(79)

Part 5 Unified interpretations of the provisions of the 1966 Convention

Part 6 Form of record of conditions of assignment of load lines

1 The International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 (1966 LL Convention) was adopted by the International Conference on Load Lines on 5 April 1966 and entered into force on 21 July 1968. It has since been amended by means of Assembly resolutions as follows:

.1 by Assembly resolution A.231(VII), which was adopted on 12 October 1971;

.2 by Assembly resolution A.319(IX), which was adopted on 12 November 1975;

.3 by Assembly resolution A.411(XI), which was adopted on 15 November 1979;

.4 by Assembly resolution A.513(13), which was adopted on 17 November 1983; and

.5 by Assembly resolution A.784(19), which was adopted on 23 November 1995.

As far as the 1966 LL Convention is concerned, these amendments had not entered into force at the time of publication of the present consolidated edition.

2 The 1966 LL Convention was modified by the 1988 Protocol relating thereto, which was adopted on 11 November 1988 by the International Conference on the Harmonized System of Survey and Certification and entered into force on 3 February 2000. The intention of the 1988 Protocol is to harmonize the Convention’s survey and certification requirements with those contained in SOLAS and MARPOL. The 1988 LL Protocol itself has been modified by the 2003 Amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.143(77) on 5 June 2003 and entered into force on 1 January 2005, and by the 2004 Amendments, which were adopted by resolution MSC.172(79) on 9 December 2004 and are expected to enter into force on 1 July 2006. The 1971, 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1995 amendments to the 1966 LL Convention referred to in paragraphs 1.1 to 1.5 above were incorporated into the 1988 LL Protocol, as amended by resolution MSC.143(77).

Content of the consolidated text

3 This publication contains the 1966 LL Convention; the articles of the 1988 LL Protocol; a consolidated text of the 1966 LL Convention as modified by the 1988 LL Protocol, which has been amended by resolution MSC.143(77); the 2004 Amendments to the 1988 LL Protocol, which have not yet entered into force; and the unified interpretations of the 1966 LL Convention approved by the Maritime Safety Committee up to December 2004.

4 The publication has been arranged in six parts:

.1 part 1, which contains a reproduction of the original text of the 1966 LL Convention;

.2 part 2, which contains the Articles of the 1988 LL Protocol;

.3 part 3, containing the 1966 LL Convention as modified by the 1988 LL Protocol, which has been amended by resolution MSC.143(77);

.4 part 4, which contains the 2004 amendments to the 1988 LL Protocol, which were adopted by resolution MSC.172(79) and are expected to enter into force on 1 July 2006;

.5 part 5, which contains the unified interpretations of the 1966 LL Convention approved by the Maritime Safety Committee up to December 2004. These interpretations were originally disseminated by circulars LL.3/Circ. 69, LL.3/Circ. 77, LL.3/Circ. 130 and LL.3/Circ.155; and

.6 part 6, consisting of the Form of Record of conditions of assignment of load lines accepted by the Maritime Safety Committee.

5 In Part 3, those articles and regulations of the 1966 LL Convention which have been modified by the 1988 Protocol, as amended, are indicated by the symbol P88 . It should be noted that, from the legal point of view, the 1988 Protocol is only applicable to ships entitled to fly the flag of a State which is a Party to the Protocol.

6 In accordance with resolution A.351(IX), whereby the Assembly resolved that metric units in the ‘‘Systeme international d’unite’s’’ (SI System) should be introduced in the 1974 SOLAS Convention at the first opportunity and also in all future instruments to be adopted under the auspices of the Organization, the text of the 1966 LL Convention as modified by the 1988 Protocol contained in the present publication shows values and dimensions in SI units only. Thus, the values and dimensions in imperial units are omitted only for the purposes of the present publication and also for consistency with the regulations of the Convention that have been modified by the 1988 Protocol, where all dimensions are given in SI units only.

A​​s a specialized agency of the United Nations, IMO is the global standard-setting authority for the safety, security and environmental performance of international shipping. Its main role is to create a regulatory framework for the shipping industry that is fair and effective, universally adopted and universally implemented.  

In other words, its role is to create a level playing-field so that ship operators cannot address their financial issues by simply cutting corners and compromising on safety, security and environmental performance. This approach also encourages innovation and efficiency.

Shipping is a truly international industry, and it can only operate effectively if the regulations and standards are themselves agreed, adopted and implemented on an international basis. And IMO is the forum at which this process takes place.