The Contracting Governments undertake to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention for the purpose of promoting safety of life at sea, to promulgate all regulations and to take all other steps which may be necessary to give the present Convention full and complete effect.
The provisions of the present Convention are completed by Regulations contained in Annex I, which have the same force and take effect at the same time as the present Convention. Every reference to the present Convention implies at the same time a reference to the Regulations annexed thereto.
1The provisions of the present Convention shall apply to ships belonging to countries the Governments of which are Contracting Governments, and to ships belonging to territories to which the present Convention is applied under Article 62, as follows :—
Chapter II—(Construction) to passenger ships (mechanically propelled) on international voyages.
Chapter III—(Life-saving Appliances) to passenger ships (mechanically propelled) on international voyages.
Chapter IV—(Radiotelegraphy) to all ships engaged on international voyages except cargo ships of less than 1,600 tons gross tonnage.
Chapter V—(Safety of Navigation) to all ships on all voyages.
Chapter VI—(Certificates) to all the ships to which Chapters II, III and IV apply.
2The classes of ships to which each Chapter applies are more precisely defined, and the extent of the application is shown in each Chapter.
3In the present Convention, unless expressly provided otherwise—
(a)a ship is regarded as belonging to a country if it is registered at a port of that country;
(b)the expression " Administration " means the Government of the country in which the ship is registered;
(c)an international voyage is a voyage from a country to which the present Convention applies to a port outside such country, or conversely; and for this purpose every colony, overseas territory, protectorate or territory under suzerainty or mandate is regarded as a separate country;
(d)a ship is a passenger ship if it carries more than 12 passengers;
(e)the expression " Regulations " means the Regulations contained in Annex I.
4The present Convention, unless expressly provided otherwise, does not apply to ships of war.
No ship, which is not subject to the provisions of the present Convention at the time of its departure on any voyage, shall become subject to the provisions of the present Convention on account of any deviation from its intended voyage due to stress of weather or any other cause of force majeure.
Persons who are on board a ship by reason of force majeure or in consequence of the obligation laid upon the master to carry shipwrecked or other persons shall not be taken into account for the purpose of ascertaining the application to a ship of any provisions of the present Convention.