Paris MoU has published guidelines to provide guidance for the harmonized reporting and follow up of ISM deficiencies in the scope of a PSC inspection, for the Port State Control Officers (PSCOs).
The ISM Code has been made a mandatory instrument according to SOLAS 74, as amended, Chapter IX. The Administration is responsible for verifying compliance with the requirements of the ISM Code and issuing Documents of Compliance to Companies and Safety Management Certificates to ships. This verification is carried out by the Administration or the RO.
The PSCO conducts an inspection of the ship, which is a sampling process and gives a snapshot of the vessel on a particular day.
The ISM Code applies to the following types of ships engaged on international voyages:
- all passenger vessels including passenger high speed craft; and
- oil tankers, chemical tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers and cargo high speed craft of 500 gross tonnage and upwards; and
- other cargo ships and self propelled MODUs of 500 gross tonnage and upwards.
For establishing the applicability of SOLAS Chapter IX and the ISM Code; “Gross Tonnage” means the gross tonnage of the ship as determined under the provisions of the International Convention on the Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 and is stated on the International Tonnage Certificate (1969) of
the ship.
The ISM Code does not apply to government-operated ships used for non-commercial purposes.
During the initial PSC inspection, the PSCO should verify that the ship carries the ISM certificates according to SOLAS Chapter IX and the ISM Code by examining the copy of the DOC and the SMC, for which the following points are to be considered:
- A copy of the DOC should be on board. However, according to SOLAS, the copy of the DOC is not required to be authenticated or certified. The copy of the DOC should have the required endorsements.
- The SMC is not valid unless the operating Company holds a valid DOC for that ship type. The ship type in the SMC should be included in the DOC and the Company’s particulars should be the same on both the DOC and the SMC. The SMC should have the required endorsements.
- The validity of an Interim DOC should not exceed a period of 12 months. The validity of an Interim SMC should not exceed a period of 6 months. In special cases, the Administration, or at the request of the Administration another Government, may extend the validity of the Interim SMC for a period, which should not exceed 6 months from the date of expiry.
- ROs may issue a short term DOC or SMC not exceeding 5 months, whilst the full term certificate is being prepared in accordance with their internal procedures.
- If a renewal verification has been completed and a new SMC cannot be issued or placed on board the ship before the expiry date of the existing certificate, the Administration or RO may endorse the existing certificate. Such a certificate should be accepted as valid for a further period which
should not exceed 5 months from the expiry date. - If a ship at the time when a SMC expires is not in a port in which it is to be verified, the Administration may extend the period of validity of the SMC but this extension should be granted only for the purpose of allowing the ship to complete its voyage to the port in which it is to be verified, and then only in cases where it appears proper and reasonable to do so.
No SMC should be extended for a period of longer than 3 months, and the ship to which an extension is granted should not, on its arrival in the port in which it is to be verified, be entitled by virtue of such extension to leave that port without having a new SMC. When the renewal verification is completed, the new SMC should be valid to a date not exceeding 5 years from the expiry date of the existing SMC before the extension was granted
The inspector should consider the ISM aspect:
- If technical or operational related deficiencies are found during an inspection carried out in accordance with the PMoU procedures and guidelines, and
- The ship holds an SMC certificate, which is not an “Interim SMC”.
Reporting
All technical and/or operational deficiencies shall be recorded as an individual deficiency in the PSC inspection report according to the PMoU procedures. A technical deficiency with the defective item DOC should be recorded in the PSC inspection report under code 01106 and for the defective item SMC under code 01107.
Where the PSCO has considered the technical and/or operational deficiencies found, and concluded these provide objective evidence of a (serious) failure, or lack of effectiveness, of the implementation of the ISM Code, an ISM deficiency should be reported in the PSC inspection report. The Convention reference is SOLAS Chapter IX, Regulation 3 There is no need to link the ISM deficiency further to a relevant paragraph of the ISM Code.
The technical and/or operational deficiencies, which are ISM related, should be indicated in the PSC inspection report by ticking the “ISM related” box behind the additional comment of the particular technical and/or operational deficiencies. Although ISM deficiency code 15150 can only be raised once during an inspection, a ship can have multiple ISM deficiencies code 15150 raised during different inspections.
