After a lecture in London last February, WISTA-UK formed a working group to study the ISM Code and any implication from different angles, ie.: Legal, Insurance, Broking, Financial & Auditing.

Although marine safety has come a long way since the sinking of the "TITANIC" which prompted the first Safety of Life at Sea legislation (1914 SOLAS Convention, the operation of which was postponed due to the First World War), none of us who reads the shipping press can avoid the depressing reports of yet another bulk carrier lost with all hands, the sinking of another passenger ferry or another tanker spill, with the cause often being human error or improper management of the ship. Nor it seems, could the International Maritime Organisation, which whilst it believes that good practice abounds in most well organised shipping companies, is also of the opinion that some owners do not meet the same high standards. Therefore, in 1993, it added another chapter to SOLAS when it adopted the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention which came into force on 1st July of this year for tankers, bulk carriers, passenger ships and high speed craft of 500 gt and over.

As its title suggests, the purpose of the Code is to provide an international standard for the management and operation of ships thus preventing injury or loss of life at sea and damage to the environment. Recognising that no two shipping companies are the same, the Code is drafted in very broad terms setting out the general principles and objectives which must be attained, with each shipping company being left to implement those in a way to suit its particular business.

To comply with the Code, the shipowner (or manager or bareboat charterer) has to demonstrate that he has a system in place both on board his ship(s) and ashore, which implements the objectives of the Code (the "Safety Management System"). The System must set out defined levels of authority both on ship and ashore and defined lines of communication amongst the crew and also between them and shore personnel. It must contain a safety policy with procedures for reporting accidents and non-conformities with the Code and also an environmental protection policy, with procedures for responding to emergency situations. These procedures should be documented in a Safety Management Manual, which should be kept on board and ashore and all further paperwork implementing the Code should be added to the Manual. To ensure there is proper communication between the ship and the shore, each company has to designate a person (the"designated person") whose function is to monitor the safe running of the safety and pollution policy and to act as the link between the ship and the highest level of management. The shipowning company should ensure that its crew understands the rules, implement any training which is required to put the system in place and establish programmes for drills to prepare for any emergency action.

Both flag and port states are involved in implementation of the Code. Initial authorisation and periodical verification has to be carried out by the flag state of the ship, in most cases this has been delegated to surveyors of the IACS, who have trained as ISM auditors. If the shipowning company is found to comply with the Code, then it will be issued with a Document of Compliance. For each ship that is successfully assessed as being in compliance with the Code, a Safety Management Certificate will be issued which shall be kept on board. Both Certificates are valid for five years.

As to the day to day implementation, the Maritime Safety Committee has invited Port State administrations to put measures into place to check that ships entering their ports have the proper certification and the various regional agreements adopted by individual countries for the uniform exercise of Port State Control (Paris MOU, Asia-Pacific MOU, Latin American Agreement) and the USA have declared their intention to ensure that compliance with the Code will be strictly enforced.

ISM: Is it working? The first 60 days’ headlines

• Outstanding effort by Maritime and Coastguard Agency leads to 100% compliance for Britain.
• Greek companies manage almost 95% compliance.
• 100% of German ships certified under phase one, including 21 due in phase two.
• US warns of zero tolerance for non-compliance.
• Early implementation helps achieve over 98% pass rate for Italians.
• IMO declares that worldwide compliance may be as high as 87% on deadline.
• Hit hard: 4 ships detained on first day of Code: 2 in Hong Kong, 2 in Australia.
• South Africa has domestic legal problem in enforcing Code.
• US policy pays off: no ships yet detained in their waters.
• IMO reveals 1 in 9 ships inspected detained including 2 in Europe - does the US have the best policy?
• Doubts over standards of accreditation arise.
• Philippines gains 99% ISM compliance.
• Ten dead in bulker capsize. London club warns on code compliance.
• All Indian ships meet ISM Code.
• UK officers critical of ISM training standards.