SHIPS CERTIFICATES

All cargo ships are required to be registered with concerned Administration as per Merchant Shipping Act. The Registrar issues the Certificate of Registry. In India ships can be registered in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The Principal Officer of M.M.D in each above individually acts as the Registrar of Indian Ships under Act.

STATUTORY CERTIFICATES AND DOCUMENTS FOR MERCHANT SHIPS

Cargo Ships Foreign going (all in original)

 CERTIFICATES                  VALIDITY                       CONVENTION                  SURVEY                        ISSUANCE

International Tonnage Certificate (1969)	Valid for lifetime unless major change in construction.	International Tonnage Convention 1969	Surveyed by Class, measurements are taken, computed.	Issued by Registrar or others assigned for such job as per M.S Act
International Load line Certificate (1966)	Valid five years with annual and intermediate surveys	ILLC 1966 and protocol of 1988	Surveyed by Class	Issued by Head quarters of Classification Society
International Load line Exemption Certificate	Same as above	Same as above	Surveyed by Class	Same as above
Minimum Safe Manning document	Valid for lifetime unless major change in constrn.	SOLAS 1974 (1989 amendments)	M.M.D	Issued by The Principal officer M.M.D
Certificates of masters, officers and ratings	As applicable under competence	STCW 1995 code	M.M.D	Issued by The Principal officer M.M.D
Tonnage Computation Booklet	Valid for lifetime unless major change in construction.	International Tonnage Convention 1969	Surveyed by Class, measurements are taken, computed	Checked by M.M.D and finally approved by D.G.S (Indian Ships)
Intact Stability Booklet with damage calculations	Valid for lifetime unless major change in construction	SOLAS 1974 regulation II-1/22 including calculations part B 25 regn 1-10	Same as above	Same as above

For oil tankers above 150 GRT and other ships above 400 GRT

IOPP Certificate + Record of construction as per Regulation	Valid five years with annual and intermediate surveys	MARPOL 73/78 annex I regulation 5	Surveyed by Class	Issued by the Principal officer (Registrar) of M.M.D
Oil Record Book	Continuous record document	MARPOL 73/78 annex I regulation 20	Same as above	As approved by the Flag State
Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (3copies) SOPEP	As governed by IOPP	MARPOL 73/78 annex I regulation 26	Same as above	Same as above

In addition to all above cargo ships including tankers must have following in original

Safety Construction Certificate (SAFECON)	Valid five years with annual and intermediate surveys	SOLAS 1974 as amended and GMDSS	Surveyed by Class	Issued by the Principal officer (Registrar) of M.M.D
Safety Equipment Certificate (500 GRT and above)	Valid Five years & annual (HSSC effective since year 2000)	SOLAS 1974 Chapter II-2, III and COLGEG 1972	Surveyed by M.M.D Surveyors	Issued by the Principal officer of concerned M.M.D
Safety Equipment Plan and Record of Safety Equipment	Record issued every Full term survey	Same as above	Scrutiny and check by M.M.D Surveyors	Plan approved by D.G.S and Record issued with Safety Equipment Certificate.
Safety Radio Telegraphy/Telephony or GMDSS	Valid Five years & annual (HSSC effective since year 2000)	SOLAS Chapter IV as amended	Surveyed by Radio Inspector of M.M.D	Issued by the Principal officer of concerned M.M.D
Exemption certificate Safety Equipment	If required as per SEC and valid same term	SOLAS 1974 Regulation I/12	Surveyed by M.M.D Surveyor	Issued by the Principal officer of  M.M.D
DOC Special requirement for ships with dangerous cargo	As and when required to carry dangerous cargo	SOLAS 1974 Regulation II/54
Dangerous goods Manifest	Stowage Plan as required	SOLAS 1974 Regulation VII, MARPOL annex III/4
Document of authorization for carriage of Grain	As required where grain is required to be carried	SOLAS 1974 as amended Chapter VI Regulation 9
Certificate of Insurance or other financial security in respect of civil liability	As per terms of agreement with regard to oil pollution damage TOVALOP	CLC 1969 article VII
Enhanced Survey Report file		SOLAS 1974 Chapter XI/2, MARPOL annex I Regulation 13G

In addition to all above ships carrying noxious liquid chemicals in bulk shall carry

International pollution prevention certificate for carriage of noxious liquid in bulk (NLS)	Valid five years subject to annual and intermediate surveys as applicable	MARPOL 73/78 Annex II Regulation 12/12a	Surveyed by Class Surveyor	Certificate issued by The Registrar of ship
Certificate of fitness for carriage of NLS in bulk	Same as above	BCH code Section 1.6	Same as above	Same as above
OR International certificate of fitness	Same as above	IBC code  Section 1.5	Same as above	Same as above
Cargo Record Book	In support of above	MARPOL Annex II/9	Same as above	Same as above

For Gas Carriers

Certificate of fitness for carriage of liquefied gasses in bulk	Valid five years subject to annual and intermediate Surveys	GC code Section 1.6	Surveyed by Class Surveyor	Certificate issued by The Registrar of Ship
OR International Certificate of fitness	Same as above	IGC code Section 1.5	Same as above	Same as above

For passenger ships

Passenger Ship Safety Certificate	Valid one year only	SOLAS/MARPOL/ILLC all combined as required	Surveyed by MMD and Class Surveyors	Certificate issued by The Registrar of ship
Passenger Ship Exemption Certificate	Same as above	SOLAS 1974 Regulation I/2 as amended	Surveyed by MMD Surveyors	Same as above
Special Trade Passenger Ship Certificate	Same as above	STP agreement 1971 Regulation 6	Same as above	Same as above
Special Trade Passenger Ship Space Certificate	Same as above	SSTP agreement 1973 Regulation 5	Same as above	Same as above

For high-speed crafts as defined by M.S Rules requires a SAFETY CERTIFICATE in compliance with Chapter X of SOLAS as amended

With reference to Chapter IX of SOLAS as amended ships to which ISM applies

Document of compliance (Certified copy) DOC	Valid five years subject to annual and intermediate audits	SOLAS 1974 Chapter IX + ISM provisos as amended	Audit conducted by competent lead auditor/s as approved by the flag state	Flag State or a competent authority on behalf of Flag State
Safety Management Certificate SMC	Same as above	Same as above	Same as above	Same as above

All such ships must possess elaborate SAFETY MANNUAL as document on board

International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the nucleus for origination of all shipping Regulations by way of holding conventions. Various maritime countries all over the globe are signatory members to IMO. These countries usually send representatives to IMO’s conventions when held. All such valid signatory members of IMO are also termed as Flag States. For example, India is signatory member of IMO, so India is a Flag State. All Indian ships, obviously will fly Indian flag whether sailing high seas or in port.

Each country has administrative body set up by the Government of that country to look after Shipping. For example, Government of India has Ministry of Shipping and Transport, a division under which the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) has been established to control merchant shipping operation. For the purpose of legal proceedings M.S ACT 1958 has been formulated as key Instrument for merchant shipping and its alliances in India.

Class Society (Classification Society) is an autonomous body established for the benefits of shipping, and promoted by the concerned Flag State for the activities in the field of shipping industry. Every Flag State can have one or more Classification Societies for the purpose of conducting ship related Surveys and monitoring internationally. Names of a few major Classification Societies: -

CLASS SOCIETY	HEADQUARTERS	SCOPE OF SURVEYS/ JOB
Lloyds Register of Shipping  LRS	United Kingdom (London)	Ships, Industry, Testing house, Construction, ISO, ISM, Plan approval, Researches, Seminars
American Bureau of Shipping   ABS	United States (New Jersey)	Same as above
Det Norske Veritas                    DNV	Norway (Oslo)	Same as above
Bureau Veritas                           BV	France   (Paris)	Same as above
Indian Register of Shipping      IRS	India (Mumbai)	Same as above

Classification Society is a non-profit organization and operates under the vested guidelines of IACS (International Association of Classification societies) in liaison with Flag States. Merchant ship individually needs to be classed with any of international Class Societies as stated above right from the building yard. Ship-owners at their option can switch over to another Classification Society if they can satisfactorily prove their reason to do so.  Whenever a merchant ship is proposed to be taken under class the Society arranges Its surveyor/s to board the ship for a First entry survey which is very exhaustive and may take a longer time depending on condition of ship and her equipments. After completion of first entry survey satisfactorily the ship is assigned with class notation like 100A1 and machinery class LMC (both are for Lloyds, + is added if the ship was originally built to LRS specifications). From that particular day when the ship is assigned with class notation, the ship’s class surveys start. All hull items are normally surveyed as per Special Survey sequences which is of 5 years interval having Intermediate Survey 2.5 + 0.5 yrs and Annual Survey having window period 3 months either side. All items need to be surveyed by 5 years. Machinery items are coded in a survey book and they are surveyed in continuous basis called CSM             (continuous survey of machinery).