ISM Code & SMS — Most Asked Questions
18 questions asked about ism code & sms across the Fn 3 and General papers, heaviest first.
Learn the system first
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1 Objective of ism
Also asked: “Purpose of ism”
Answer
The ISM Code makes safety a managed system: safe ships through safe companies, with pollution prevention built in.
- Objectives: safety at sea, prevention of human injury and loss of life, and avoidance of damage to the environment and property.
- The company owns it: a safety and environmental policy, procedures for key shipboard operations, defined authority for master and crew.
- Proved by audit, not paper: internal audits yearly, external verification leading to a DOC for the company and an SMC for each ship.
- Certificates only follow demonstrated operation — the system must run on board before the paper is issued.
Surveyor follow-up: DOC valid but the ship’s SMC has lapsed — who is non-compliant, company or ship?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
2 safety management certificate and its period of validity
Answer
The SMC proves the safety system runs on that ship: 5 years with an intermediate audit mid-term, withdrawn on a major non-conformity.
- Issued per ship after audit with the system running at least 3 months and a valid company DOC behind it.
- Valid 5 years with the intermediate audit between the second and third anniversary dates.
- Original stays on board, copy with the company; a major non-conformity withdraws SMC and DOC together.
- Interim papers cover new ships and new ship types for months until the full audit closes.
Surveyor follow-up: intermediate audit window missed by two months — sail, detain or endorse, and who decides?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
3 Company Verification, Review and Evaluation
Answer
The company audits itself before the flag audits the company: internal verification, management review, corrective follow-up.
- Section 12 obliges internal system audits with competent auditors independent of the work checked.
- Top management plans audits, reviews reports and funds corrective action — the designated person often runs the cycle.
- External verification runs initial, intermediate and renewal audits of system and implementation.
- Typical audit findings run missing certificates, unfamiliar crews, undocumented master’s authority and unkept maintenance records.
Surveyor follow-up: internal audit finds the same defect three times running — audit failure or system failure, and who answers?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
4 the elements of the ISM code
Answer
The Code builds safety in layers: policy, people, plans, emergency cover, reporting and audit.
- Safety and environmental policy stating how objectives are met ashore and afloat.
- Company responsibility with named duties, resources and a designated person linked to top management.
- Shipboard-operation plans, emergency preparedness and maintenance procedures for key equipment.
- Reporting of non-conformities and accidents with corrective action, records kept, then internal audit and management review.
Surveyor follow-up: quote three elements from memory — then show me one working on this ship.
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
5 Certification & periodical verification
Answer
DOC and SMC live five years on yearly checks: annual verification near every anniversary with three months to close findings.
- DOC periodical verification inside three months either side of each anniversary date.
- Corrective-action schedule capped at three months agreed with the auditor.
- Multi-site companies rotate premises across the five-year life so every office sees the auditor.
- Intermediate SMC audits sit between years two and three per ship with the same close-out discipline.
Surveyor follow-up: anniversary window missed by a month — sail, endorse or re-audit?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
6 how drills are conducted
Answer
Drills run from the muster list on schedule: alarm, stations, roles, equipment swung, debrief logged.
- Muster list names every soul’s station, duty and substitutes with the list signed and posted.
- Fire, boat, steering and flooding drills rotate on the flag timetable with bridge-to-gear comms proved.
- Lower boats, run pumps, swing valves and test alarms — walk-throughs never count as drills.
- Debrief, log and close defects before the next sailing; the surveyor reads the drill record first.
Surveyor follow-up: last boat drill three months back with a new crew aboard — compliant or not?
Full theory: Fire Control Plan, Muster List & Flooding Response -
7 Ism code smc doc
Answer
ISM papers are DOC for the company and SMC for the ship: five years each with yearly and intermediate checks.
- DOC proves the company system runs with annual verification inside three months of each anniversary.
- SMC proves the ship runs it with intermediate audit between years two and three.
- Interim DOC twelve months and interim SMC six months bridge new companies and ships.
- A major non-conformity withdraws both together — only the issuing administration restores them.
Surveyor follow-up: interim SMC expired with the audit booked next week — sail or stay?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
8 Isps, levels in isps , who sets the levels
Answer
Three security levels set by contracting governments: normal, heightened and exceptional — company, ship and port obey.
- Level 1 is normal daily operation with baseline measures and watches.
- Level 2 is heightened risk with extra patrols, searches and access control for the threat period.
- Level 3 is exceptional incident response with full lockdown and authority direction.
- Contracting governments set the level on threat information; company, ship and port officers execute it.
Surveyor follow-up: port at Level 2 with the ship at Level 1 — whose level rules the gangway?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter XI — ISPS Code & Maritime Security -
9 Q5.) Mention the procedure for safe isolation of compressor for overhaul; show by a planned maintenance for air compressor (Components) system
Also asked: “Q5. Mention the procedure for safe isolation of compressor for overhaul, show by a table a planned maintenance at sea,explain also the maintenance of hydraulic system”
Answer
Isolate compressors by lockout with a component-wise overhaul plan: energy out, parts in order, records current.
- Lockout-tagout with drains open, pressure vented and drives isolated before a spanner moves.
- Overhaul by components — valves, rings, bearings, coolers and safeties — each with intervals and spares.
- Planned maintenance tables stage running checks, port overhauls and dry-dock renewals with records.
- Prove by pressure, temperature and relief tests on first start unloaded with drains open.
Surveyor follow-up: overhaul planned but no spares aboard — plan, postpone or improvise, and who decides?
Full theory: Air Compressor Maintenance — Lapping, Clearances & Overhaul -
10 What is ism
Answer
ISM is the safety-management law: company-owned procedures for safe ships and clean seas, proved by DOC and SMC.
- Company means owner, manager or bareboat charterer holding full operating responsibility reported to the flag.
- Document who does, checks and verifies every safety and pollution job with shore support behind them.
- Objectives are safety at sea, injury prevention and pollution avoidance — measured by audits, not posters.
- DOC ashore and SMC aboard prove the system lives; withdrawal grounds the fleet member until restored.
Surveyor follow-up: safety poster fresh with procedures unknown on deck — compliant system or paper system, and what proves it?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
11 Ism code in detail
Answer
ISM in full is policy to paperwork: objectives, company duty, designated person, SMS, audit and certificates.
- Objectives are safety at sea, injury prevention and pollution avoidance through managed procedures.
- Company owns resources and shore support with responsibility and authority written for every safety job.
- The system runs on internal audit, corrective action and management review — not on posters.
- DOC ashore and SMC aboard prove it by systematic independent audit against objective evidence.
Surveyor follow-up: manuals perfect with the designated person unknown on deck — system or shelfware, and what audit finds it?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
12 Clean all drills with a rag and put them in the right place when finished. Always clean
Answer
Cleaning after a drill is part of the drill: gear left fouled or oily is gear that fails at the moment it is needed.
- Wipe and return every item used — lifejackets, lines, breathing sets, fire equipment and the boats — before the crew stands down.
- Oily or wet gear is cleaned and dried, because damp stowed lifejackets and a sticky reeving fall are both fatal defects.
- Missing or damaged gear from a drill is reported and replaced before the next one, not quietly carried.
- And the drill record says what was found and what was done — the survey’s question is what the drill exposed, not just that it happened.
Surveyor follow-up: drill completed with two breathing sets unaccounted for — what is the finding, and who signs it off?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
13 Ism objective and certification issued under it
Answer
ISM exists for safety, injury prevention and pollution prevention, and it is proved by two certificates: DOC and SMC.
- Objectives: safety at sea, prevention of injury and ill health, and prevention of pollution, through managed procedures.
- The Document of Compliance certifies the company ashore, valid five years with annual verification.
- The Safety Management Certificate certifies the ship operating an approved system, also five years with an intermediate audit.
- Both are issued under SOLAS Chapter IX, so a ship without both is sailing uncertified on any convention that reads it.
Surveyor follow-up: SMC current with the DOC withdrawn last month — sail, transfer, or re-issue first?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
14 Ism-doc & smc
Answer
The DOC is the company’s and the SMC is the ship’s: one system proved ashore, one proved afloat, both five years.
- DOC proves the company operates a safety management system meeting the ISM Code, with annual verification.
- SMC proves that ship runs an approved system, audited, valid five years with an intermediate audit between years two and three.
- An interim DOC runs twelve months for a new company; an interim SMC six months to bridge a new ship or transfer.
- The SMC cannot stand alone — without a valid DOC covering that ship type, the pair is worth nothing at PSC.
Surveyor follow-up: interim SMC expired last week with the audit not yet done — sail, extend or re-issue first?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
15 Isps, levels in isps, who sets the level at sea and at port
Answer
The level is set ashore and obeyed at sea: contracting governments set it, and the ship and the port both follow the higher one in force.
- Level 1 is normal operation with baseline measures; Level 2 is heightened risk with extra searches and patrols.
- Level 3 is exceptional, held for a short limited period under specific instructions.
- Contracting governments set the level on threat information through the flag or recognised organisations.
- At sea the ship follows the flag’s level, and in port the port state’s level applies to the ship alongside — the higher governs access.
Surveyor follow-up: ship at Level 1 alongside a port at Level 2 — whose searches and patrols apply to the gangway?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter XI — ISPS Code & Maritime Security -
16 PSC and flag state relation Objectives of ISM Pass
Answer
Flag state builds and certifies; port state checks. ISM objectives sit between them, proved by audit rather than by inspection.
- The flag state ensures a ship entitled to fly its flag is safely constructed, equipped, maintained and manned under the conventions.
- Flag state control is exercised by survey and inspection for the statutory certificates, with flag state control as the legal term.
- Port state control inspects foreign ships in its ports for certificates, condition and crew competence, with detention as the sanction.
- The ISM objectives are safety at sea, injury prevention and pollution prevention, proved by DOC and SMC through audit, not by PSC paperwork alone.
Surveyor follow-up: a valid SMC with a PSC detention for crew competence — which state acts, and does the ISM audit still stand?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems -
17 Planned maintenance system for Air compressor components
Answer
A planned maintenance system is a schedule of hours and conditions, not a list: rings, valves, coolers, filters and safety gear on the clock.
- Set the intervals by maker hours and condition — daily rounds, weekly checks, and running-hour tasks at stated limits.
- Cover the cylinders, rings and valves, the after-cooler and cooler, the filters, the unloading gear and the safety valve test.
- Record each task with date, hours and findings, so a rising trend is visible before a failure is.
- The system is part of the SMS: the schedule is in the manual, the work is signed, and the result is audited.
Surveyor follow-up: compressor running with a current safety valve but no record of any ring inspection since commissioning?
Full theory: Air Compressor Maintenance — Lapping, Clearances & Overhaul -
18 the elements of the ISM code. PART A
Answer
Part A is the rulebook: the company’s policy, responsibility, resources, shipboard management, maintenance, records and review.
- A policy statement setting the safety and pollution objectives the company is committed to achieve.
- Responsibility and authority defined for the company, the designated person, the master and the officers.
- Resources and shore support, with a designated person ashore who has direct access to the top.
- Shipboard responsibility, master’s responsibility, training, maintenance, records, reporting and management review.
Surveyor follow-up: Part A manual complete with no designated person named — does the system exist on paper?
Full theory: SOLAS Chapter IX — ISM Code & Safety Management Systems
Source: 123 written papers and surveyor oral banks, 24,613 entries, merged into 17,210 topics. Ticks are stored on this device only.