Editing SOLAS Convention (section)

{{Short description|International treaty for maritime safety}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox Treaty
|name                = SOLAS Convention
|long_name           = International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
|image               = 
|image_width         = 160
|caption             = 
|type                = 
|context = The [[sinking of the Titanic]], 1912
|date_drafted        = * Initial version 1914
|date_signed         = 
|location_signed     =
|date_sealed         = 
|date_effective      = * 26 May 1965 (1960 version)
* 25 May 1980 (current version SOLAS 1974)
|condition_effective = 
|date_expiration     = 
|signatories         = 
|parties             = 167<ref name=IMO-Conventionstatus>{{cite web |title=Status of Conventions |url=https://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/StatusOfConventions.aspx |website=IMO.org |publisher=International Maritime Organization |access-date=21 May 2022 |date=22 April 2022}}</ref>
|depositor           = 
|language            = 
|languages           = 
}}{{Admiralty law}}

The '''International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea''' ('''SOLAS''') is an international [[maritime law|maritime treaty]] which sets out minimum safety standards in the construction, equipment and operation of [[merchant ships]]. The [[International Maritime Organization]] convention requires signatory [[flag state]]s to ensure that ships [[ship registration|flagged]] by them comply with at least these standards.

Initially prompted by the [[sinking of the Titanic]], the current version of SOLAS is the 1974 version, known as SOLAS 1974, which came into force on 25 May 1980,<ref name=IMO-Conventionstatus/> and has been amended several times. {{As of|April 2022}}, SOLAS 1974 has 167 contracting states,<ref name=IMO-Conventionstatus/> which flag about 99% of merchant ships around the world in terms of gross tonnage.<ref name=IMO-Conventionstatus/>

SOLAS in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships.<ref name=IMO-1974/><ref name=IMO-Implicatiins>{{citation | title = Implications of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea for the International Maritime Organization, Study by the Secretariat of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) | publisher = [[International Maritime Organization]] | page = 11 | url = http://www.imo.org/ourwork/legal/documents/implications%20of%20unclos%20for%20imo.pdf | number = LEG/MISC.7 | date = 19 January 2012 | access-date = 6 April 2013 | quote = As of December 2011, the three conventions that include the most comprehensive sets of rules and standards on safety, pollution prevention and training and certification of seafarers, namely, SOLAS, MARPOL and STCW, have been ratified by 159, 150 and 154 States, respectively (representing approximately 99% gross tonnage of the world's merchant fleet). | url-status = dead | archive-url = http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20150109051954/http://www.imo.org/OurWork/Legal/Documents/Implications%20of%20UNCLOS%20for%20IMO.pdf | archive-date = 9 January 2015 }}</ref>