Given a number of marine vessels treating the liquefied natural gas either as cargo or fuel, this paper examined the regulatory gaps of two different international Codes – the International Code of the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk and the International Code of Safety for Ships Using Gases or Other Low-flashpoint Fuels – from the regulatory standpoint. Results of the gap analysis have identified and discussed the key areas encountered with regulatory discrepancies or ambiguities that might interrupt the proper design, construction and operation of LNG carrier and LNG fuelled ship. A systematic investigation and harmonisation process across the Codes was proposed to mitigate the potential issues that may arise from the discordant regulations. Also, the International Maritime Organization was suggested to take proactive action to improve such dissonances while a general insight into the importance of filling those gaps was provided for rule-makers and stakeholders.

鉴于许多船舶将液化天然气视为货物或燃料，本文研究了两个不同国际规则的监管差距——国际散装运输液化气体船舶构造和设备规则和国际安全规则用于使用气体或其他低闪点燃料的船舶– 从监管的角度来看。差距分析的结果已经确定并讨论了可能会中断 LNG 运输船和 LNG 燃料船的正确设计、建造和运营的监管差异或模糊性的关键领域。提出了跨守则的系统调查和协调过程，以减轻不协调的法规可能引起的潜在问题。此外，还建议国际海事组织采取积极行动来改善这种不和谐，同时为规则制定者和利益相关者提供了关于填补这些空白的重要性的一般见解。