SOLAS lifeboat regulations are periodically amended as a result of recommendations by member states, but the process is lengthy. Once any proposed amendments are circulated, they can be adopted six months later, after discussion by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Maritime Safety Committee. They then take another 18 months before coming into force. Captain Hilmar Snorrason, chairman of the International Association for Safety and Survival Training (IASST), says that, as a result, although changes to SOLAS have tended to follow the best knowledge at the time, they can be out of date by the time they come into force.
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