A ship that is not a SOLAS ship must comply with the relevant construction and stability standards set out in the Uniform Shipping Laws (USL) Code. If a ship is to operate as an off-shore supply vessel it must meet the requirements specified in Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Offshore Supply Vessels where such requirements differ from those in Chapter II-1 of SOLAS or Section 8 of this code, as applicable to the vessel.
The Uniform Shipping Laws Code (USL Code) provides standards for the design, construction and operation of domestic commercial vessels. The Code was first published in 1979 in response to the need for a common national safety standard for commercial vessels. It should be noted that the National Standards for Commercial Vessels is intended to phase this out.
