ICLL 66 is the most widely ratified instrument of the IMO and is, along with the International Convention on Safety of life at Sea (SOLAS), the primary document setting forth internationally agreed ship safety standards. ICLL 66 set freeboard requirement based on experience gained from the first Load Line Convention in 1930 and on contemporary developments in ship design. Reexamination of ICLL 66 is indicated by the proliferation of novel ship designs for which it lacks adequate regulations and by significant advancements in analytical seakeeping and deck wetness prediction techniques now available to the designer. In this paper, the Freeboard Advisory Group reviews these issues against the changing climate of the marine industry and maritime administrations, discusses the state of the art in analytical seakeeping programs, and outlines a series of recommendations for the establishment of a new international load line convention for the next century. The steps needs for an international program at IMO are discussed and a new convention is proposed.