A new Marine Notice from the Republic of Liberia will require shipboard boarding arrangements to follow ISO-based standards from 1 July 2026. The circular covers accommodation ladders, aluminium shore gangways, their winches, and the related use of safety nets when people move between ship and shore.
Within the notice, a “safety net” is described as netting stretched between the vessel’s side and the boarding arrangement, intended to prevent a person using the ladder or gangway from falling into the sea or down onto the quay. Such netting is to be rigged in the way of accommodation ladders and gangways whenever there is a realistic risk that someone might fall from the access equipment itself or into the gap between the hull and the quay.
The Marine Notice also explains when this safety net may be omitted. The net is not required if both conditions are satisfied. First, the danger of a person slipping through the open sides of the access way is controlled by a rigid top rail and a side net fitted between that rail and the base of the accommodation ladder, including its upper and lower platforms, or the gangway structure. Second, the risk of a person going over the top rail is adequately reduced because the rail is installed in accordance with appropriate international standards and has a height of at least 1,000 mm.
For vessels completed from 1 January 2010 onwards, any accommodation ladder or gangway used for boarding or leaving the ship and fitted on or after 1 July 2026 must comply with international standards accepted by the Administration. The notice refers in particular to ISO 5488:2015 for accommodation ladders and ISO 7061:2015 and ISO 7061:2024 for aluminium shore gangways serving seagoing ships, as well as comparable national rules approved by the flag.
Ships built before 1 January 2010 are subject to a slightly different approach. Where accommodation ladders or aluminium shore gangways are installed from 1 July 2026 on these older ships, they should, so far as is reasonably practicable, follow relevant international standards. The Marine Notice mentions ISO 5488:1979 and ISO 5488:2015 for accommodation ladders, and ISO 7061:1993, ISO 7061:2015, and ISO 7061:2024 for aluminium shore gangways, or national standards that the Administration has accepted.
The exact date thresholds apply to accommodation ladder winches. On ships completed from 1 January 2010, winches fitted from 1 July 2026 for operating accommodation ladders are to be designed and tested in line with international standards such as ISO 7364:2016, which covers deck machinery and winches for accommodation ladders.
For ships built before 2010, accommodation ladder winches installed from 1 July 2026 should, as far as reasonably practicable, comply with international standards recognised by the Administration, including ISO 7364:1983 and ISO 7364:2016.
