IMO Pilot Transfer Equipment Rules Set 2028 Start Date and Inspection Duties

The IMO’s revised pilot transfer standards make safe boarding a shipboard systems issue: ladders, gangways, securing points, inspection records and crew familiarity all fall within the requirements. For shipowners and operators, the work ahead is to assess each vessel’s equipment and plan any changes around installation dates, survey timing and the standards’ phase-in schedule.

The Maritime Safety Committee adopted resolution MSC.572(110) on June 26, 2025. It revises SOLAS Chapter V, Rule 23. The related technical requirements appear in MSC.576(110), titled “Pilot Transfer Arrangements Performance Standards.” The amendments are due to be accepted on July 1, 2027, through SOLAS’s tacit acceptance procedure, and take effect on January 1, 2028, provided the objection threshold in the decision isn’t exceeded.

Transition dates depend on the equipment

The transition schedule distinguishes among vessels by considering the transfer equipment’s installation date and the ship’s status under SOLAS Chapter I. The initial survey used to determine timing is whichever comes first among an annual, periodic or renewal survey; it isn’t necessarily the five-year renewal survey.

Installation date also has a specific meaning. It is the delivery date stated in the contract, or, if the contract gives no date, the date the equipment is delivered to the ship. As a result, new equipment delivered to an older ship in 2028 doesn’t automatically qualify for the transition period available to existing equipment. Operators will need to check each ship’s documentation against the applicable dates.

The provisions covering control, maintenance and replacement begin January 1, 2028. Technical compliance for existing equipment has transition periods extending to 2029 and 2030. The source cites MSC.572(110), new SOLAS V/23.3–7, and Lloyd’s Register Class News 13/2026.

Campaign data points to reporting gaps

In its 2026 safety campaign, the International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA) collected 4,051 notifications from 34 countries and reported a 13% non-compliance rate. Pilot ladder arrangements remained the leading source of non-compliance observations. The figures describe reports from participating pilots, not a count of conditions across the world fleet.

Of 2,362 notifications involving pilot ladders alone, 331 recorded a non-compliant arrangement. For combined arrangements, 151 of 1,013 notifications were non-compliant. IMPA also reported that 89% of non-compliance cases had either no notification made to the authorities or no response to the notification question. The finding puts reporting practice alongside equipment condition as an operational concern: records need to show that deficiencies have been raised and addressed.

Service life and inspection controls

Pilot ladders and securing ropes face two maximum service-life limits: 36 months from manufacture and 30 months from commissioning. Equipment must be taken out of service when it reaches whichever limit comes first. The same limits apply to spares, and operators can’t wait for a service-life deadline if equipment has already become non-compliant. Ships must carry at least one compliant spare pilot ladder and one spare set of securing ropes.

A ladder manufactured in January 2028 and commissioned in January 2029 reaches its manufacturing limit in January 2031. Even if 30 months from commissioning would run later, the earlier manufacturing date sets the removal point. Purchasing and inventory plans therefore need to track both manufacture and commissioning, not just delivery to the vessel.

A responsible officer must check the transfer arrangement before and after each use, with a detailed inspection every three months. The maintenance plan is to include checklists, inspection and maintenance records, commissioning dates and planned dates for taking equipment out of service. Checks cover the whole arrangement: ladders and spares, side gangways, hoist drums, connections, access points and stowage.

Repairing or replacing ladder steps or long balance steps is prohibited. Equipment in storage must be protected from moisture, sunlight, icing, chemicals and oils. Crew members responsible for control, maintenance or equipment must receive familiarization training on the arrangements fitted to their ship.

Technical requirements cover the full transfer path

The climbing height using a pilot ladder must be between 1.5 and 9 meters. Above 9 meters, a combined arrangement using a side gangway is required. A responsible officer must supervise the transfer and equipment while communicating with the bridge. Mechanical pilot hoists are not to be used, and the transfer area must have adequate lighting.

Carrier connection points, locks and mooring ropes must have a minimum breaking strength of 48 kN. Their strength or equivalent safe working load must be marked, with supporting compliance documents kept on board. During use, the ladder hoist drum can’t act as a load-bearing connection: the ladder must be secured to independent strong points away from the drum.

For combined arrangements with a covered opening on the lower platform, the access opening must measure at least 750 by 750 millimeters. The ladder must rest against the side, its top step must be at least 2 meters above the lower platform, and structural elements must leave the passage unobstructed. Where the combined-arrangement provisions apply, a boarding mark near the boarding position must have a white upper half and red lower half. It must be at least 4 meters high and 0.5 meters wide, with the dividing line below 9 meters from the access point.

Records, certification and vessel planning

New installations require type approval from the ship’s flag administration or an authorized organization for pilot ladders, intermediate securing equipment and securing ropes. Ship safety documents must separately record ladders, securing ropes, their spares and intermediate securing equipment. DNV includes updates to these records in its assessment of the compliance process. It also describes the revised IMO/IMPA poster as a visual aid, not a substitute for design and approval work.

The revised SOLAS text says that a pilot or other personnel who suspects an arrangement is non-compliant must tell the ship’s captain and refuse to use it until the issue is corrected. That makes transfer readiness a voyage-planning task: suitable equipment and conditions need to be in place before the pilot is asked to board.

DNV’s technical assessment says some vessels may need changes to connection points, hoist drums or securing devices. Work could involve hot work or larger renovations and may need advance shipyard scheduling. Lloyd’s Register says installations made before July 2012 may require further modification.

For Turkish shipowners and operators, the source recommends reviewing vessels individually, checking equipment manufacture and delivery dates, connection documents, hull geometry, maintenance records and upcoming survey dates together. The practical task is to identify deficiencies early, document notifications shared with pilotage organizations, and schedule corrective work against each ship’s transition dates.

Source: SeaNews Türkiye