Pilot ladders: the new SOLAS V/23 rules from 2028

What changes, and when

In June 2025 IMO adopted a new text for SOLAS regulation V/23 (Res. MSC.572(110)) and made the performance standards for pilot transfer arrangements mandatory (Res. MSC.576(110)). Both apply from 1 January 2028. The IMO Assembly has been invited to revoke Resolution A.1045(27), today’s recommendation, with effect from 1 April 2030.

The performance standards come in parts, and they do not all apply at the same moment:

What	Applies from	Basis
Inspection, stowage, maintenance, replacement and crew familiarisation (Parts D and E)	1 January 2028, all ships, whatever the age of the equipment	SOLAS V/23.6
Design, construction, securing and installation (Parts A to C), new installations	Delivery on or after 1 January 2028	SOLAS V/23
Parts A to C, existing installations on SOLAS ships	First survey on or after 1 January 2029 (annual, periodical or renewal survey)	SOLAS V/23.4
Parts A to C, existing installations on non-SOLAS ships	1 January 2030	SOLAS V/23.5

Early implementation is voluntary, and port State control has been asked not to enforce the new rules on foreign ships before they enter into force.

What every ship must do from 1 January 2028

• Inspections. A responsible officer inspects the arrangement before and after each use, carries out a detailed inspection every three months and supervises rigging and the transfer.
• A maintenance plan. A checklist, a schedule and a log, plus the date each ladder went into service and the date it has to be withdrawn. The maker’s instructions must come with each ladder and set of manropes.
• Fixed replacement age. Pilot ladders and manropes, spares included, leave service 36 months after manufacture or 30 months after being placed in service, whichever comes first, or earlier if they no longer comply.
• No repairs to steps. Steps may no longer be repaired or replaced; a damaged ladder is withdrawn.
• Spares. At least one spare pilot ladder and one spare set of manropes on board.
• Type approval. New pilot ladders, manropes and the new device for securing a ladder at an intermediate length must be type-approved.
• Marking. Maker, serial number, date of manufacture and approving authority under the top step and the lowest spreader, measuring marks every three steps, and tagged manropes.
• Familiarisation of the crew under STCW regulation I/14.

Design and installation rules for existing ships

These must be met by the first survey on or after 1 January 2029 on SOLAS ships, so yard work and class plan approval should be booked well before then:

• Side ropes of 20 to 22 mm. Cable ties, U-clamps and worm-drive clips are not allowed.
• Strong points, shackles and securing ropes rated at least 48 kN, marked and documented, at least 915 mm from the deck edge. DNV may ask for load tests where documents are missing.
• Deck access handholds of 32 to 36 mm diameter, 0.7 to 0.8 m apart and at least 1.2 m high, with a ring of at least 60 mm for the manropes. Side doors at least 2,200 by 915 mm.
• A retrieval line only where needed, fixed at the forward end at or above the lowest spreader and leading forward.
• Climbs of more than 9 m need a combination arrangement. The accommodation ladder leads aft at no more than 45 degrees and meets SOLAS II-1/3-9. The lower platform is at least 5 m above the water, and the pilot ladder is secured to the hull about 1.5 m above the platform, never to the platform itself.
• Fixed lighting, or portable lights with brackets. Mechanical pilot hoists are not allowed.

What surveyors and PSC officers will ask for

Expect requests for the maintenance plan and log, a register of ladders and manropes with serial numbers and dates, the maker’s instructions, type approval markings, documents for the strong points, test certificates for side-door platforms, accommodation ladder records, familiarisation records and the updated Record of Equipment. The Forms P, E and C get three new pilot ladder entries.

Until 1 January 2028 the current V/23 applies. Keep the maker’s certificate and a record of when each ladder went into service and of any repairs.

Why it matters now

In IMPA’s 2026 safety campaign, 13 % of 4,051 reported boarding arrangements did not comply. Ladders made up 57 % of the faults, and a wrongly rigged retrieval line was behind 43 % of the ladder defects. Most of these cases were never reported to the authorities.

What to do now

1. Check every arrangement against Parts A to C and plan any work before 2029.
2. Collect strength documents for strong points, shackles and ropes, and expect load tests where they are missing.
3. Start a register of every ladder and set of manropes: serial number, date of manufacture, date in service, date due for withdrawal.
4. From 2028, buy only type-approved ladders, manropes and securing devices, and keep the spares on board.
5. Put the maintenance plan in the safety management system and log the before-and-after and three-monthly inspections.
6. Stow ladders as the maker says, and do not repair steps.
7. Familiarise the crew, and update the Record of Equipment.

How we help

We inspect ladders, rigging, strong points and combination arrangements against the 2028 rules, give you a list of what has to change before your 2029 survey, and supply replacement ladders with their certificates. See Pilot ladders and embarkation ladders.