Maritime Cook Islands
Safety Management System Manual Guidelines
1. Introduction
These guidelines shall be read in conjunction with the appropriate manual
i. Safety Manual A 100 GT – 499 GT
ii. Safety Manual C ≤100 GT
The Guidelines and relevant Manual are intended to be used by Commercial operating, non-SOLAS vessels, as a standard of safe management against which the practise, procedures and operational safety is audited against.
It is the owner/operators’ responsibility to compile and maintain the Manual which is appropriate to meet the ship’s operational requirements, on-going maintenance, safety and training of the crew.
All new Manuals must be referred to Maritime Cook Islands for Approval. Any major changes made to existing Manuals must also be referred for approval. Once the manual has been approved, an Interim – Safety Management Certificate valid for 6 months.
The owner operator will have 3 months from the date the Interim – Safety Management Certificate was issued to carry out an internal audit, and submit the findings to Maritime Cook Islands.
Before the end of the 6 months, period a verification audit will be carried out by a Maritime Cook Islands appointed surveyor. If the audit is satisfactory a full term – Safety Management Certificate valid for 5 years; subject to satisfactory verification audit to be carried out during the second and third year anniversary dates;
All audits will be scheduled at the same time as scheduled survey inspections.
ISM Code
The International Safety Management Code (ISM Code) applies to ships as described in the extract from the CODE below;
Regulation 2
Application
1 This chapter applies to ships, regardless of the date of construction, as follows:
.1 passenger ships including passenger high-speed craft, not later than 1 July 1998;
.2 oil tankers, chemical tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers and cargo high-speed craft of 500 gross tonnage and upwards, not later than 1 July 1998; and
.3 other cargo ships and mobile offshore drilling units of 500 gross tonnage and upwards, not later than 1 July 2002.
2 This chapter does not apply to government-operated ships used for non-commercial purpose.”
Ships described in Regulation 2 (above) must comply with the ISM Code, while those which do not fit within the ISM application criteria, shall abide by these “Maritime Cook Islands Safety Management System Manual Guidelines”.
2. Storage and Security
The Safety Manual and its contents may be kept electronically provided that electronic facilities, including back up facilities, should the original be lost or damaged, are available on-board. Similarly the shore establishment copy may be stored electronically.
It is expected that normal security and passwords be used to prevent unauthorised access and changes to the contents.
3. Tailoring the Manual to a vessel
The ship’s
particulars to be listed on the page immediately following the cover page along with flag state contact details.
A record of
amendments to be kept prior to the contents page of the manual
Sections 1 & 2 to be completed
Sections 3 & 4 to be ship specific
Sections 5 & 6 changes can only be made subject to approval
Section 7 to be ship specific
Section 8 used as an ‘aide memoir’
Section 9 to be used and/or amended to be ship specific
Sections 10-12 to be made ship specific, where reference is made directly to manufacturers handbooks these must remain on board. A maintenance log may be kept separately with it referenced in this Manual.
Section 13 Reference can be made directly to the Ship’s Certificate Folder in lieu of other entries
Section 14 It is the intention that, due to the size of the vessel, auditing will normally take place concurrent with annual inspections of the ship required by statutory certification. On satisfactory completion an annual entry will be endorsed on the reverse of the Safe Management System certificate. Failure to meet the required auditing standards may mean additional visits to the ship are required.
Section 15 Contains checklists and basic safety familiarisation for the ship’s crew on joining and, in addition a list of operating manuals and handbooks kept on board.
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Form 61 Safety Management Systems Manual Guidelines v1