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Week 43 2026: Viyada Naree, Gard on Loss of Bridge Control, the International Workboat Code and the IMSBC 8th Amendment

🕑 5 min read words Regulatory • Safety • Navigation

Week: 43, 2026 (w/c 19 October)
Source: Flag state, class society, P&I club and IMO updates for the week
How to read this: where we retrieved the full text we summarise it and link our guide. Where we saw only a title we say so and do not guess at the contents.

The Week In Short

Singapore’s TSIB published its report on the death of the Second Engineer on VIYADA NAREE: a jammed crane hook freed at sea, a weather assessment that was never revisited, and stop-work authority held by one person who was not there. See the case study.
Gard’s series on loss of bridge control continues. We summarise the second article, on control lost in working systems, with KIRKELLA and our DP console cases, in one guide.
The International Workboat Code of Practice was published jointly by IIMS, IMCA and the Workboat Association.
The IMSBC Code 8th amendment, a deemed-acceptance date passed in July and entry into force on 1 January 2027.
The Court of Appeal handed down its Taikoo Brilliance judgment on deck cargo identification.

Flag State Regulations And Guidance

UK — MIN 739 (F), the acceptable standard of liferaft for fishing vessels of less than 7 m. Liferafts are not required on these vessels; the note applies only where an operator chooses to carry one, and refers to the standards in MSN 1871. The MCA page says it expires on 16 June 2031 or when incorporated into MSN 1871. Also MSN 1874 (M+F) Amendment 12 on UK conformity assessment and type approval for marine equipment, and MIN 740 (M+F), the list of MCA-recognised private nautical chart producers under MGN 293. We have seen only the titles of the last two.
Hong Kong — MSIN 16/2026 on the United Nations Sanctions (South Sudan) Regulation 2019 amendment (title only).
Liberia — Marine Security Bulletins 40/2026 (piracy in the Singapore Strait) and 41/2026 (vessel attacks in the Strait of Hormuz). We could not retrieve either; earlier 2026 bulletins reported attacks on tankers in and near the Strait of Hormuz.
Panama — Marine Notice 05/2026 (vessel transit near Iranian territorial waters), Marine Notice 03/2022 (Ukrainian and Russian waters), Marine Circular 359 (ISPS Code implementation and certification) and Marine Circular 195 (LRIT). Titles only.

International Workboat Code Of Practice

IIMS, IMCA and the Workboat Association published this 122-page code of practice in October 2026 for commercial workboats, including remotely operated unmanned vessels, and excluding underwater craft and recreational boats. It draws on the UK Workboat Code, adapted internationally, and puts primary responsibility on the owner or operator and the Master, including for risk assessments, with weight on people and organisational controls. We searched the text for bridge resource management, human element, fatigue, teamwork and simulator provisions and found none. Its navigation watch clause (25.7) asks that the Master ensures watchkeeping arrangements are adequate for the vessel, operation and conditions. DP appears only in the annex for remotely operated unmanned vessels. See our BRM course, which covers what small craft crews have to supply themselves.

IMSBC Code, 8th Amendment

The 8th amendment (08-25) was adopted as MSC.575(110) in June 2025. The resolution sets 1 July 2026 as the deemed acceptance date, entry into force on 1 January 2027, and allows voluntary application from 1 January 2026. West of England reports 12 new individual cargo schedules and 11 amended schedules, updated fumigation guidance in section 3, a revised segregation table for dangerous goods in bulk in section 9, and updated circular references. The Swedish Club has also published on it; we have not seen its note.

Taikoo Brilliance: Deck Cargo And Time Bars

From law firm summaries of the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Batavia Eximp & Contracting v Pedregal Maritime ([2026] EWCA Civ 1158), which concerned New Zealand pine logs shipped to Kandla: two bills of lading recorded part of the cargo as carried on deck (22,994 pieces and 11,092 pieces). The court held that where items in a cargo differ in value and only part is deck cargo, a bill that states only the number of pieces on deck may not be enough to take the cargo outside the Hague-Visby Rules; the bill must specifically identify the deck cargo. It also held that proceedings brought only to obtain security do not protect time under the one-year Hague-Visby time bar. Steamship Mutual has published on the case; we have not seen its note.

Recent Class Society Guidance

ABS — Independent Third-Party (I3P) Services; Risk-based Inspection for Floating and Fixed Offshore Installations; Wind Farm I3P Certification. Titles only.
ClassNK — Guidelines for Advanced Safety Measures (Edition 1.1). Title only.
Lloyd’s Register — a research report on advanced nuclear technology use within port environments, and new guidance on retrofit projects. Titles only.
Polish Register of Shipping — Informative Publication 14/I, Principles of Recognition of Testing Stations and Maintenance Shops. Title only.

Recent P&I Club Guidance

Gard — the loss of bridge control series (see above) and India’s new coastal waters requirements, covered in our India guide.
Japan P&I Club — Frequently asked questions on the Cargo Securing Manual; mandatory requirements and recommendations for transit of the Qiongzhou Strait, China. Titles only.
Britannia — risks and management of bulk liquid cargoes during prolonged storage. Title only.
North Standard — an alert on container fires involving UN 3378; see our UN 3378 guide.
The Swedish Club — US General License 135 on Russian-origin diesel transactions, and the IMSBC 8th amendment. Titles only.
Steamship Mutual — Taikoo Brilliance; shore excursions and third-party liability (title only).
UK P&I — Malaysia’s new marine sensitive area near the Singapore Strait, covered in our Week 42 roundup.
IG P&I, Gard and Britannia — new fire drill guidelines for vehicle carrying vessels. We have not seen the new guidelines; the Vehicle Carrier Safety Forum published fire response guidelines in 2025 that these clubs circulated.

Other Regulations And Guidance In The News

BIMCO — eBL adoption passing the halfway mark; an Energy Saving Device Retrofit Addendum. Titles only.
IIMS — cargo handling and safety in the carriage of woodchips; MLC 2026, what shipping needs to know about the latest amendments; and the Workboat Code launch above.
ReCAAP — weekly piracy report.
Navigation and security news — Suez Canal tightening inspection requirements for older vessels; Northern Sea Route traffic records.

Recent Accident Reports

VIYADA NAREE (Singapore), 20 January 2026 — the TSIB report, read in full. Case study. Note the digest describes the ship as a ro-ro; the report describes a bulk carrier.
ALMARIYA (Cyprus MAIC), 18 October 2025 — a crew member trapped in a hydraulic sliding watertight door, with a fatal outcome. We could not retrieve the report and are not summarising it.
RTM WEIPA (ATSB), 23 June 2025 — a crane traversing motor fell in the engine room during maintenance, with a minor injury. The ATSB page we could reach still showed the investigation as ongoing, so we are not summarising the findings.

Coming Up At The IMO

IMO Council 2 to 6 November; the Intersessional Working Group on GHG emissions 23 to 27 November; MEPC 30 November to 3 December; the Maritime Safety Committee 14 to 18 December.

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