The Liberia Maritime Authority has released a marine notice on how to deal with asbestos on board all ships that are in service, under repair/modification/conversion and alteration.
Guidance is also provided on the prohibition of the use or storage of extinguishing media containing perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) on new vessels and the requirement to remove PFOS on existing vessels. Notice SAF-018 Rev. 3/25 applies to all ships, including Mobile Offshore Units and High Speed Craft. The notice breaks down its guidance of management of asbestos containing materials on board ships certified under SOLAS into separate categories, including:
• Ships built before 1 July 2002
• Ships built on or after 1 July 2002 and before 1 January 2011
• Ships built on or after 1 January 2011
Ships under 500 GT should manage ACMs as far as practicable in accordance with the provisions above.
The guidance also explains on how to deal with asbestos containing materials on board vessels certified under the 1979, 1989 and 2009 MODU codes. For ships and other vessels, including mobile offshore units constructed on or after 1 January 2026, the use or storage of fire-extinguishing media containing (PFOS) is prohibited.
Ships and other vessels, including offshore mobile units constructed before 1 January 2026 shall comply with regulations prohibiting the use or storage of fire-extinguishing media containing PFOS not later than the date of the first survey on or after 1 January 2026. The term “first survey” as referenced by a regulation in the 1974 SOLAS Convention, as amended, means the first annual survey, the first periodical survey or the first renewal survey whichever is due first after the date specified in the relevant regulation.
The maker’s declaration or laboratory test reports should be used for verification of the presence of PFOS in fire-extinguishing media. The declaration issued by the foam maker should contain information about the foam such as, but not limited to: foam type, production period, batch No., ref. to type approval / MED Certificate for the foam. For extinguishing media installed before 1 January 2026, where the maker’s declaration or laboratory test reports are not available, sampling and testing of the fire-extinguishing media on board should be required to be conducted in accordance with a recognized standard.
The Administration recommends testing for PFOS when carrying out the periodical control of foam concentrates on board; or alternately, when developing the Inventory of Hazardous 4 of 5 3/25 SAF-018 Republic of Liberia Materials (IHM) Part I, due no later than 26 June 2025. When removed from a ship or other vessel, including offshore mobile units, PFOS shall be delivered to appropriate shore-based reception facilities.
The removal and subsequent delivery to an appropriate shore-based reception facility shall be duly recorded in the ship’s official logbook. Replacement extinguishing media should be approved and certificated in accordance with the applicable IMO guidelines. The extinguishing media approval certificate should clearly indicate the absence of PFOS in the media. High-expansion foam concentrate should be approved in accordance with MSC/Circ.670 and low expansion foam in accordance with MSC.1/Circ.1312_Corr.1.
Download the notice: LMA-SAF-018.pdf
