The 37th meeting of the ADN Safety Committee was held in a virtual form in the last week of January 2021.

The common goal of the Safety Committee is to continuously review the provisions of the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways (ADN) and to check if they meet the safety requirements and can be implemented in practice and, if necessary, whether they need to be amended.

The ADN was done at Geneva on 26 May 2000 on the occasion of a Diplomatic Conference held under the joint auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR). It entered into force on 29 February 2008.

The group of participants consists of representatives of the ministries of the Contracting States, representatives of the European associations EBU/ESO, the classification societies, safety experts and representatives of the chemical and oil industries. On behalf of EBU/ESO, René Overveld (BLN), Michael Zevenbergen (CBRB) and Elena Vostrikov (BDB) took part in the meeting.

Partial interpretation was offered during the meeting and at that time, the decisions were taken. Beforehand, the Working Documents and Informal Documents submitted for a decision were discussed in the respective national ministries and associations of the Contracting States, all in consultation with each other. EBU/ ESO were also allowed to introduce their own documents and to submit comments on proposals.

At the 37th meeting, the following important topics were dealt with, among others:

  1. The general assignment of the inside of cargo tanks to zone 0 for explosion protection;
  2. Non measurable substances, for which a toximeter is required;
  3. Carrying documents on board dry cargo ships with regard to explosion protection;
  4. Construction materials for life boats (which substances may be used? aluminum in particular is problematic);
  5. Filling cofferdams (for more draught during canal navigation);
  6. Inspection of installations and equipment according to 8.1.7.2 (visual inspection or removal and inspection on shore, the latter requiring a lot of time).

You can read the full report here.

If the pandemic situation allows, the upcoming 38th meeting of the ADN Safety Committee will again be held as a face-to-face meeting in Geneva in August 2021.

Elena Vostrikov

04 March 2021