SOLAS II-1/3-13 has applied to lifting appliances on ships since 1 January 2026. New cranes must be designed, tested and certified to the rule, existing ones must be load tested and thoroughly examined by the first renewal survey on or after that date, and every lifting appliance must now be inspected and maintained to the IMO guidelines.
For most fleets the real work is not in the crane. It is in the planned maintenance system: a complete register of lifting appliances, loose gear that can be matched to its certificate, and maintenance jobs that match what the guidelines expect.
What does SOLAS II-1/3-13 cover?
SOLAS II-1/3-13 covers lifting appliances, anchor handling winches and the loose gear used with them. It was adopted by IMO Resolution MSC.532(107) on 8 June 2023 and entered into force on 1 January 2026. Two sets of guidelines support it: MSC.1/Circ.1663 for lifting appliances and MSC.1/Circ.1662 for anchor handling winches. A unified interpretation, MSC.1/Circ.1696 of 28 August 2025, deals with existing appliances that have no valid test certificate.
Under SOLAS a lifting appliance is any load-handling ship's equipment used:
- for cargo loading, transfer or discharge;
- for raising and lowering hold hatch covers or moveable bulkheads;
- as an engine-room crane;
- as a stores crane;
- as a hose handling crane;
- for launch and recovery of tender boats and similar applications;
- as a personnel handling crane.
The regulation does not apply to life-saving launching appliances that comply with the LSA Code, to integrated mechanical equipment for opening and closing hold hatch covers, or to lifting appliances on MODUs and certain offshore construction ships. Anchor handling winches here means the winches on offshore anchor-handling ships. The Liberian Registry's notice confirms that a ship's own windlass is not covered. On a bulk carrier, tanker or container ship, the regulation is about cranes, derricks, davits, gantries and their loose gear.
Does SOLAS II-1/3-13 apply to existing ships?
Yes. The design and construction rules apply only to appliances installed on or after 1 January 2026, but the testing, examination, inspection and maintenance rules apply to all ships. The table sets out the split in the regulation.
| Requirement | Installed on or after 1 January 2026 | Installed before 1 January 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Design, construction and installation to class rules or an equivalent standard | Required (para 2.1) | Not required |
| Load test and thorough examination | After installation and before first use, and after major repairs or modifications | No later than the first renewal survey on or after 1 January 2026 (para 2.4) |
| Permanent SWL marking with documentary evidence | Required (para 2.3) | Required by the same renewal survey (para 2.4) |
| Operational testing, inspection, thorough examination and maintenance to the IMO guidelines | Required (para 3) | Required (para 3) |
For cargo ships, IRClass guidance reads the deadline as the first Safety Construction renewal survey on or after 1 January 2026. Confirm the date with your recognised organisation, because many existing ships will meet the requirement at that survey and the records have to be ready before it.
Three points decide how much work an existing ship needs:
- Existing certificates. Valid certificates of test and thorough examination issued before 1 January 2026 under ILO Convention No. 152 are accepted as compliant until they expire, according to the Liberian notice.
- No certificate at all. MSC.1/Circ.1696 allows a "factual statement" from an approved competent person or the RO, confirming a load test at the test load in MSC.1/Circ.1663 and a thorough examination. Where no design data exists, the company may nominate the SWL, and the statement must say that the SWL itself is not confirmed.
- Appliances below 1,000 kg SWL. The regulation lets each flag decide how far paragraphs 2.1 and 2.4 apply. Luxembourg places them outside mandatory certification but still requires SWL marking and SMS procedures. Singapore requires companies to set up a planned maintenance system for all lifting appliances and loose gear, including those below 1,000 kg, verified at the next SMC audit. Check your own flag's circular.
What testing and maintenance do the lifting appliance guidelines expect?
The guidelines expect a five-yearly load test, an annual thorough examination by a competent person, and routine inspection and maintenance by a responsible person. The Liberian notice SAF-020 summarises them as follows:
- Lifting appliances are load tested at least once every five years and after repairs, modifications or alterations of a major character.
- A thorough examination by a competent person follows every load test and is repeated annually.
- Loose gear has documentary evidence of its proof test, is marked for identification, and is thoroughly examined annually and after each proof test.
- Maintenance, inspection and operational testing intervals follow the maker's recommendations, industry standards or class requirements, taking account of how the ship and the appliance are used.
- Records of routine inspection and maintenance are kept on board in any convenient form, provided each entry is complete, legible and authenticated by the responsible person.
- Appliances and loose gear found unsafe are taken out of service, marked "not to be used" and recorded in the register of lifting appliances.
Liberia also allows testing and examination intervals to be aligned with the harmonised survey windows. Britannia P&I notes that the inspection and maintenance records may be kept in the ship's planned maintenance system, provided they meet these conditions. For dry bulk ships, RightShip's RISQ 3.2 already asks for the same evidence: question 9.19 expects crane foundation, holding-down bolt and slewing ring inspections to sit in the PMS, with a six-monthly rocking test recorded in the register of lifting appliances.
What do accident reports show about lifting appliance maintenance?
Accident reports show that a valid test certificate does not prove a crane is fit to use. Two published investigations make the point.
Overseas Camar, 2008. The MAIB examined the failure of the starboard provisions crane on this products tanker at Fawley. The crane, rated at 0.8 tonnes, had passed its five-yearly load test and its annual class inspection. While lifting drums of hydraulic oil it tore away from its mountings and fell into the sea, and the bosun was seriously injured. The pedestal bolts and nuts were badly corroded. Planned maintenance and class requirements called for periodic examination of these fasteners, but the MAIB found the checks had failed over several years.
Eaubonne, 2021. The Marshall Islands investigation covers a 63,000 dwt bulk carrier whose 4-tonne monorail provision crane fell while landing garbage at Abidjan. One seafarer died and another was seriously injured. The maker's maintenance had been recorded as done and the crane had passed a 5-tonne load test in 2019, yet stoppers shown on the design plans had never been fitted. Only the deck cranes were in the class examination scheme. After the casualty, the company added the provision crane to the ship's cargo gear booklet, bringing it into annual class inspection and five-yearly load testing.
Both cranes were small, both were outside the main cargo gear, and both had paperwork that looked complete. SOLAS II-1/3-13 now brings that kind of equipment into a formal regime.
Where do planned maintenance system records fall short for lifting appliances?
Planned maintenance system records usually fall short in five places when they are checked against SOLAS II-1/3-13:
- Incomplete register. Provision cranes, engine-room gantries, hose-handling cranes and tender davits are missing, or are grouped as one "deck crane" item.
- Loose gear without identity. Shackles, slings, hooks and blocks carry no unique mark that links them to a certificate. RISQ question 9.22 asks for exactly this link.
- Tests recorded without values. The job shows "done", but the test load, date, competent person and certificate number sit on paper that is not attached to the register.
- Jobs copied from the maker's manual only. Maintenance tasks exist, but nothing maps them to the guideline categories: operational test, inspection, thorough examination and load test. Foundations and holding-down bolts, the failure point on Overseas Camar, often have no job at all.
- Defects not linked to status. A crane with an open defect still shows as available. The guidelines expect it to be marked out of service and recorded in the register until it is repaired.
What should a technical superintendent do before the renewal survey?
- Build a full register of lifting appliances for each ship, with SWL, maker, year of installation and certificate status.
- Check which appliances hold valid ILO C.152 certificates and when they expire, and which need a load test and thorough examination or a factual statement.
- Give every item of loose gear an identity mark and attach its certificate in the PMS.
- Map PMS jobs to the inspection, testing and thorough-examination requirements of MSC.1/Circ.1663 and your class rules, including foundations and holding-down bolts.
- Name the responsible person and the competent person in the SMS. A focused SMS update is often enough.
- Read your flag's circular on appliances below 1,000 kg SWL.
- Find each ship's next renewal survey date and plan the work back from it.
A ship's PMS can only show compliance if the register is complete.
If your lifting appliance register needs building or cleaning up, our PMS database team can help.
Frequently asked questions
When did SOLAS II-1/3-13 enter into force?
SOLAS regulation II-1/3-13 entered into force on 1 January 2026. It was adopted by IMO Resolution MSC.532(107) on 8 June 2023, and is supported by MSC.1/Circ.1663 for lifting appliances and MSC.1/Circ.1662 for anchor handling winches. MSC.1/Circ.1696 adds a unified interpretation for existing appliances that have no valid test certificate.
Does SOLAS II-1/3-13 apply to existing ships?
Yes. Design and construction requirements apply only to appliances installed on or after 1 January 2026. Existing appliances must be load tested, thoroughly examined and marked with their SWL by the first renewal survey on or after that date. Inspection, operational testing and maintenance to the IMO guidelines apply to every lifting appliance, whatever its age.
Are lifeboat davits and hatch cover hydraulics covered?
No. Launching appliances that comply with the LSA Code stay under the LSA rules, and integrated mechanical equipment for opening and closing hold hatch covers is excluded. A separate crane or gantry used to lift hatch covers or moveable bulkheads is a lifting appliance, so it falls within the regulation and its guidelines.
What if an existing crane has no test certificate?
Under MSC.1/Circ.1696, an approved competent person or the recognised organisation can issue a factual statement confirming a load test and thorough examination to MSC.1/Circ.1663. If design data is missing, the company may nominate the SWL used to set the test load, and the statement must say that the SWL itself is not confirmed.
Can lifting appliance records be kept in the planned maintenance system?
Yes. The guidelines allow inspection and maintenance records in any convenient form, provided each entry holds the necessary information, is legible and is authenticated by the responsible person. A planned maintenance system meets this if it stores test values, certificates and sign-off, not just a "done" date, and links them to the register.
Does the regulation cover the ship's anchor windlass?
No. In SOLAS II-1/3-13, anchor handling winches means winches used to deploy, recover and reposition anchors and mooring lines in subsea operations, which are fitted on offshore anchor-handling ships. The Liberian Registry's notice states that the windlass and equipment for a ship's own anchors are not covered by this regulation.
Sources
- IMO Resolution MSC.532(107), adopted 8 June 2023 (text of SOLAS regulation II-1/3-13)
- IMO MSC.1/Circ.1696, Unified interpretation of SOLAS regulation II-1/3-13.2.4, 28 August 2025
- Liberia Maritime Authority, Marine Notice SAF-020 Rev. 12/25
- Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Shipping Circular No. 6 of 2026 Rev. 1, 29 June 2026
- Luxembourg Maritime Administration, Circular CAM 08/2025, 4 November 2025
- IRClass Technical Circular No. 026/2025, Lifting appliances and anchor handling winches
- Britannia P&I, SOLAS amendment affecting lifting appliances
- RightShip Inspection Ship Questionnaire (RISQ) 3.2, November 2025, questions 9.17, 9.19 and 9.22
- MAIB, Failure of crane on chemical and products tanker Overseas Camar, 21 June 2008
- Republic of the Marshall Islands Maritime Administrator, EAUBONNE Casualty Investigation Report, published 30 August 2022