🔍 Key Concepts

• SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) – Chapter III (Life-Saving Appliances and Arrangements) requirements for passenger information and emergency instructions • The purpose of emergency instructions – they must be understood quickly by the people who need them most • The role of English as a common maritime language versus the language actually spoken by passengers

💭 Think About

• Which group of people most urgently needs to understand posted emergency instructions on a passenger vessel – crew, flag State officials, or passengers? How does that affect the language choice? • Think about whether SOLAS generally prescribes a fixed list of specific languages or instead focuses on who must be able to understand the information. • How does SOLAS usually treat English: as an additional/common language, or as the only permitted language?

✅ Before You Answer

• Check which option links the language directly to the passengers on board. • Verify whether SOLAS actually names specific national languages (like Spanish, French, German) or speaks more generally. • Confirm that English is usually required in addition to another language, not instead of it.