The Commission of the European Union (EU) has amended the directive on marine equipment (96/98/EC) to bring the Community’s regulations in line with the current requirements of international maritime conventions and treaties, as well as recently developed standards.
The amended directive on marine equipment, 2010/68/EC, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union in November 2010. It includes a revised and expanded Annex A, which covers a surprisingly wide range of electrical and electronic equipment used in marine environments. Covered equipment includes the following categories:
- Pollution prevention equipment, including oil filtering equipment and oil-content meters;
- Fire protection equipment, including portable oxygen analysis and gas detection equipment, low-location lighting systems, emergency escape breathing devices, and alarm devices;
- Navigation equipment, including various types of radar equipment and echo-sounding equipment, GPS equipment, voyage data recorders;
- Radio communications equipment, including radio transmitters and receivers.
Read the complete text of the amended directive on marine equipment (96/98/EC).
