Report highlights role of IACS and its members in developing technical rules and guidance to meet new and emerging safety issues facing global shipping
31 March 2025 – IACS, the membership organisation for the world’s leading classification societies, has published its 2024 Annual Review, which highlights the central role played by IACS in supporting safety standards in global shipping.
In a year that marked the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the SOLAS Convention, safety was at the forefront of IACS’s work programme for 2024. This was exemplified by the new Safe Digital Transformation Panel, which began its important work to identify and mitigate any safety risks posed by shipping’s ongoing digital transformation.
Technical and digital advances featured heavily in IACS’s programme for 2024, including the significant challenge posed by new technologies and alternative fuels when it comes to the safety and reliability of engines and other onboard systems. IACS’s work in emerging fields was further highlighted by its work on remote surveys, which included the development of a new Unified Requirement to ensure uniform standards in the conduct of surveys undertaken without the presence of a surveyor.
The report also highlights a number of other areas of important work, including safety standards for gas carriers, improvements to the implementation of the Safe Return to Port (SRtP) scheme for passenger ships, and further guidance to support compliance with ballast water management system (BWMS) standards. 2024 also saw extensive consultation with industry and Flag States on the ongoing comprehensive review of the IACS Common Structural Rules, which will continue into 2025 and until their expected adoption in four years’ time.
Although digital and technological innovation has been a core focus of IACS’s work, the human element has remained at the heart of IACS safety agenda. As the report explores, IACS has continued to invest heavily in training and guidelines that support the role of people, including the risks posed to and by people in a ship’s lifecycle.
Robert Ashdown, IACS Secretary General, commented: “2024 was an extremely busy year for IACS, which saw us deliver a diverse work programme, with safety at the heart of all we do, whether that was through our strong presence at IMO, our close collaboration and engagement with industry partners, or our new and revised rules, recommendations and guidance. Through the collective efforts of our team and our members, IACS is playing a significant role upholding our purpose of safer, cleaner shipping.”
Roberto Cazzulo, Chair of the IACS Council, said: “At a time of transformation for our industry, IACS has been at the forefront of setting the standards needed to keep vessels safe and to protect the environment, particularly when the world around us is being reshaped by digitalisation and decarbonisation. This pace of change also requires an agile, rapid response in order to address the technical and safety implications for shipping. Throughout 2024, IACS and our members proved their ability to deliver the expert guidance needed by our industry to help safeguard safety at sea.”
The report recognises IACS’s extensive programme of engagement and support for industry at a technical and strategic level with a wide range of regulatory authorities, representative bodies and other stakeholder groups, most notably at the IMO, where IACS works closely with the secretariat and member states to deliver on the shared safety vision of both organisations. In 2024, the collective contribution from IACS and its members resulted in 77 submissions to IMO, along with the co-sponsorship of a further 12 papers.
IACS also plays an important role as a convenor and partner with industry stakeholders through other initiatives, such as the Joint Industry Working Group (JIWG) on Safe Decarbonisation, which was established last year. Through regular technical meetings and workshops, the feedback and insight from these discussions has fed directly into IACS’s rules and recommendations.
Over 2024, IACS adopted 85 new or revised Resolutions and Recommendations for implementation by its members, and the Annual Review provides a full list of all these, as well as those withdrawn. It also includes the ‘Class Report 2024’, which contains data on the global IACS fleet, broken down by the twelve IACS members.
