SOLAS V/34

SOLAS Chapter V Regulation 34 requires that the intended voyage be planned in advance, taking the IMO guidelines into account, and that the plan run from berth to berth. The master must satisfy himself the route accounts for the ship’s draft against charted depths, the weather, areas to avoid, and the means to keep the ship in safe water. IMO Resolution A.893(21) sets the four-stage method: appraisal, planning, execution, and monitoring. Regulation 34-1 holds the master’s overriding authority: the owner, charterer, or any person may not prevent the master from any decision that, in his professional judgment, is necessary for safe navigation. That clause is the legal backstop against commercial pressure to proceed unsafely.