[ IACS Announces a New ISD Database with Certificated Ships ]

The IACS Council, meeting in London, re-affirmed determination to supp
ort the international effort to implememt the ISM Code, the first pha
se of which is applicable from 1/7/98. The IACS Members have staff ava
ilable to undertake audits for shipowners on behalf of Flag States. Th
e IACS Registration Scheme, announced in October, offering priority fo
r auditing has been well received and supported.
The ISM Code is widely considered to be one of the most important init
iatives for marine safety and environmemtal protection for several dec
ades. It is an international convention and as such is the responsibil
ity of Flag States to implememt. IACS Members, amongst other Recognise
d Organisations, act as authorised agents for many Flag States in the
audit and certification of the Code on their behalf. IACS is concerned
that many Flag States have yet to provide instructions about ISM, par
ticularly in respect of action required if ships under their flag do n
ot carry ISM Safety Managememt Certificates(SMCs) after the July deadl
ine. IACS will therefore follow up an earlier, mid 1997 approach to F
lag States, with a request for such instructions.
IACS Members anticipate considerable confusion over the availability o
f SMC’s as shipowners are not obliged to use the classification socie
ty of record to undertake ISM Certification. Therefore, the class soci
ety may not know who has issued the SMC, or indeed, if the certificati
on exists at all. This, amongst other reasons, precludes rpecipitous w
ithdrawal of class in the absence of ISM Certification. However, IACS
considers that such absence may well indicate that the ship is in a co
ndition which could call into question the status of class and IACS Me
mbers will, after 1/7/98, be particularly vigilant in this respect.
IACS announced the creation of a database which will list the names(an
d IMO numbers) of all ships which have been issued with SMC’s by IACS
Members. The database will be establisded in January and updated mont
hly thereafter until July 1998. The information will be available on t
he IACS Internet webpage http://www.iacs.org.uk. The database will onl
y contain information of Safety Managememt Certificates issued by IACS
Members but Flag States issuing their own certificates are welcome to
add their data. It is hoped that the availability of this information
will be used by interested parties in the maritime safety circle.
The IACS Council noted with satisfaction the action of the SOLAS Confe
rence held in London in late November concerning bulk carriers. IACS M
embers are already extensively engaged in assenssment and implementati
on where necessary of the strengthening of the transverse bulkhead bet
ween No. 1/2 holds of existing bulk carriers which requirements are pr
ogressively effective for ships classed with IACS Members from 1/7/98.
Five years after announcing the introduction of Enhanced Survey Progra
mme for oil tankers IACS announced a review of the effectiveness of th
is measure and will invite the input of OCIME and Intertanko. This is
part of an ongoing process of review of critical safety issues by IACS
expert working groups.
Discussions were held with IMO Secretary-General O’Neil concerning im
portant marine safety matters.
Council also met Dr Salvarani from the European Commission to exchange
views and discuss European Directives on Recognised Organisations, Po
rt State Control and ISM Code compliance.