Ships’ load lines
The problem of dangerously overloading ships encountered in the nineteenth century
was referred to earlier in the chapter. In 1930 an International Convention on Load
Lines was adopted, setting out standard load lines for different types of vessels
under different conditions. A new updated convention was adopted in 1966. The
International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 came into force in 1968 and by the
end of 1996 had been ratified by 139 states.