A port state control officer boards at Rotterdam and asks to see evidence of ISM compliance. You are OOW and the master is ashore. What documents should you be able to produce, and what are your obligations?

A. You must produce: the Safety Management Certificate (on board original); a copy of the company's Document of Compliance; the ship's SMS manuals; recent drill records; defect/non-conformity logs; and maintenance records for critical equipment. As OOW you should contact the master immediately and inform the DPA through the company emergency contact.

B. PSC inspections may only take place with the master present. As OOW you should politely ask the inspector to return when the master is on board and not produce any documents in the master's absence.

C. You need only produce the SMC. PSC officers are not entitled to inspect SMS manuals or drill records without a prior written request to the flag state.

D. The DOC is held ashore by the company and is not available for PSC inspection on board. You produce the SMC and the class survey certificate only.

A. The International Safety Management Code is a mandatory international standard for the safe management and operation of ships. It is given mandatory effect by SOLAS Chapter IX, which requires companies and ships of 500 GT and above on international voyages to hold a Document of Compliance (DOC) and Safety Management Certificate (SMC).

B. The ISM Code is a voluntary industry guideline published by the ICS that sets out best practice for ship safety management. Compliance is required for ships over 3,000 GT only.

C. The ISM Code is an MCA statutory requirement published under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. It applies to all UK-flagged vessels regardless of size.

D. The ISM Code is mandatory under MARPOL Annex VI for vessels in emission control areas and requires a Safety Management System to be in place covering pollution prevention.

A. The Document of Compliance (DOC) is issued to the company by the flag state or a recognised organisation on its behalf, confirming the company's SMS meets ISM Code requirements. The Safety Management Certificate (SMC) is issued to each individual ship, confirming the ship's SMS operates in conformity with the approved DOC.

B. The DOC is issued to the master personally confirming the master is competent to manage the ship's SMS. The SMC is issued to the company for all its ships collectively.

C. Both the DOC and the SMC are issued to the ship by the port state control authority after a PSC inspection. They are valid for the port in which the inspection took place.

D. The DOC covers environmental management under MARPOL and the SMC covers safety management under SOLAS. Both are issued to the ship owner.