ISM Code overview
The ISM Code covers SOLAS ships that are:
- applicable New Zealand-flagged ships, or
- foreign flagged ships visiting New Zealand that are applicable to the Code.
The ISM Code came into force on 1st July 1998, and is reflected in section 1 of Maritime Rules Part 21, which concerns safety management systems.
It applies to the following commercial SOLAS certificated ships or commercial ships greater than 45 metres that proceed beyond restricted limits, regardless of the date of their construction:
passenger ships (including passenger high-speed craft)
- oil tankers
- chemical tankers
- gas carriers
- bulk carriers
- cargo high-speed craft of 500 gross tonnage and above
- cargo ships
- mobile offshore drilling units of 500 gross tonnage and above.
The Maritime Operator Safety System (MOSS) is New Zealand’s version of the ISM Code for smaller domestic operations and covers most other domestic commercial operations.
Background to the ISM Code
The origins of the ISM Code go back, internationally, to the late 1980s when there was increasing concern about poor management standards in shipping. In 1987, the IMO Assembly adopted Resolution A.595(15), which called upon the Maritime Safety Committee to develop guidelines for shipboard and shore-based management to ensure the safe operation of roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) passenger ferries.
The ISM Code was adopted by the IMO as Resolution A.741(18), in November 1993. It came into force on 1 July 1998 through SOLAS Chapter IX, ‘‘Management for the Safe Operation of Ships’’. The ISM Code provides an international standard for the safe management and operation of ships and for pollution prevention. This convention was developed around the central tenets that:
All applicable SOLAS ships shall carry a book (called the operations book or safety manual) containing instructions and information for safe and efficient operation
That companies establish safety objectives as described in the Code and, in addition, that companies develop, implement and maintain a safety management system which includes functional requirements as listed in the Code.
Owners of ships nominate a person (known as the Designated Person Ashore (DPA)) to oversee the operation of their ships and ensure proper provisions are made so requirements of the operations book are complied with.
These requirements are fundamental provisions of the ISM Code.