This Classification News is intended to clarify the requirements for damage control plans and damage control booklets on board ships.
To date, the SOLAS Convention has required damage control plans and booklets to be carried on board:
• passenger ships, regardless of size, since at least 1974
• dry cargo ships over 100 metres in length, constructed on or after February 1, 1992
• dry cargo ships over 80 metres in length, constructed on or after July 1, 1998, and
• all ships, regardless of length, constructed on or after January 1, 2009.

The text of the current requirement (applicable to all ships constructed on or after January 1, 2009) can be found in SOLAS Chapter II-1, Part B-4, Regulation 19.

Further guidance on what the damage control plan and damage control booklet should contain is provided in circular MSC.1/Circ.1245.

The previous circular on the subject, MSC/Circ.919, gave similar information for ships which had to provide these documents under the earlier requirements.

Infomarine On-Line Technical Library

File	Description	File size
Damage Control plans and booklets.pdf	Some tankers may have damage control plans as part of their Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP) or Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plan (SMPEP).	123 Kb
Technical Bulletin from DNV Piraeus 2009-06-24.pdf	Marpol Annex VI concerning the reduction of harmful emissions from ships.	46 Kb