Enclosed spaces remain a safety challenge in ship operations and seafarers’ working conditions. On 27 June 2025, the IMO adopted revised recommendations for entry into confined spaces on board ships, to be handled in accordance with SMS systems. This legal news summarizes this topic.
Why update recommendations?
The industry continues to suffer loss of life resulting from personnel entering spaces on board ships where the atmosphere is unable to support life, due to oxygen depletion or enrichment, toxicity or flammability. As a result, the IMO adopted revised recommendations for entry into confined spaces on board ships, IMO Resolution No. 581(110).
Investigations of enclosed space accidents consistently show that many accidents result from failure to systematically identify hazards, evaluate the associated risks, and apply appropriate entry procedures. In addition, the complex structure of some spaces on board can effectively hinder ventilation, lighting and safe movement. Organizational leadership, both on board and ashore, is essential to ensure that these directives are properly implemented, as well as to enable shipboard personnel to make sound safety-focused decisions.
The IMO’s findings are supported by InterManager, which estimated in 2025 that about 350 seafarers and third-party workers had died from claustrophobic suffocation on board ships since 1996, with 43 incidents since 2022 accounting for 70 of these deaths.
Key recommendations
Given the continuing challenges, the International Maritime Organization has revised its recommendations on entry into confined spaces on board ships. Main takeaways:
- A safety strategy to prevent accidents when entering enclosed spaces should be adopted in a comprehensive manner by the company, in consultation with the ship’s crew.
- This should include a closed space register, which will be produced on a ship-by-ship basis to identify confined spaces, the hazards of those spaces, an assessment of the risks under the various conditions likely to arise in space, and the risk mitigation measures required to be implemented prior to entry.
- The company shall develop a procedural implementation scheme that provides comprehensive training in the maintenance, calibration, and use of atmospheric testing equipment in such locations.
- Focus on people, knowing that the commitment, competence, attitudes and motivation of individuals at all levels determine the effectiveness of safety management measures and safety management systems.
New guidelines have been developed for gas levels and gas meters, but it should be noted that the minimum gas levels required for portable gas meters are set out in SOLAS Regulation No. 11/7, and any additional measures including gas meters should be based on risk assessments. This assessment should also include the cargo carried by the ship and the conventions that govern them: Safety Data Sheets (SDS), IMDG Code, IMSBC Code, International Bulk Chemicals Code (IBC Code) and IGC Code to name a few.
Recommendations
DNV recommends that its customers use the new IMO Circular as a basis for further development of their safety management systems and to provide ships with the necessary information, equipment and training as stipulated in MSC.581(110). Customers should review the circular, update the SMS and focus on implementing safeguards, especially with regard to:
- Treating enclosed space entry as a major onboard operation is essential for personnel safety
- Provide appropriate training on indoor safety management
- Provide sufficient time to plan entry to enclosed spaces to ensure that the necessary measures are followed
- Ensure the availability of necessary safety equipment
- Include indoor access management on the agenda of internal audits, master’s reviews and management
Source: DNV, https://www.dnv.com/news/2026/revised-imo-recommendations-for-entering-enclused-spaces-aboard-ships/?utm_id= 701bH00000I8F4LQAV&utm_campaign=MA_26Q2_GLOB_TRN_No_13_EXT_Enclused_spaces&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
