Text size:

• Small
• Medium
• Large

Procedure for Maritime Safety Audit of Operators and their Ships and Format of Audit Certificates
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 - entry into force 24.09.2011]

Passed 09.01.2006 No. 3
RTL 2006, 6, 92
Entry into force 16.01.2006

Amended by the following legal instruments (show)

The Regulation is established on the basis of subsection 6 (4) of the Maritime Safety Act.

§ 1.  Bases for audit

 (1) The maritime safety audit of operators and their ships shall take place of the basis of the following legislation and guidelines:
 1) International Safety Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (hereinafter ISM Code) established by Chapter IX of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (hereinafter the Convention), taking into account the updated guidelines of the International Maritime Organisation on implementation of the ISM Code by Administrations;
 2) Regulation (EC) No 336/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the implementation of the International Safety Management Code within the Community and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 3051/95 (OJ L 64, 4.3.2006, p. 1–36) (hereinafter Regulation No. 336/2006).
[RT I, 27.02.2019, 2 – entry into force 02.03.2019]

 (2) [Repealed – RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

 (3) Maritime safety audit is mandatory for the ships specified in the Convention and Regulation No. 336/2006.
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

§ 2.  Definitions

  These terms and abbreviations have the following meanings in this Regulation:
 1) “Safety Management System” (hereinafter SMS) means a documented system enabling the operator’s personnel to effectively implement the operator’s safety and environmental protection policy;
 2) “Document of Compliance” (hereinafter DOC) means a document issued to an operator which evidences compliance of the operator with the requirements of the ISM Code;
 3) “Safety Management Certificate” (hereinafter SMC) means a document issued to a ship which signifies that the operator and its shipboard management operate in accordance with the approved SMS;
 4) “Safety Management Audit” (hereinafter the audit) means a systematic and independent evaluation with an objective of ascertaining the conformity of the operations and results related to the SMS to the plans, and effective implementation of the plans and their suitability for achieving the objectives;
 5) “Safety Management Manual” (hereinafter the manual) means the documentation prepared by an operator which contains the operator’s organisational chart and a description of the SMS, a list of the objectives, instructions for acting in emergency and other necessary information in order to give an overview of the safety management system;
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]
 6) “Objective evidence” means quantitative or qualitative information, records or observations pertaining to safety or to the existence and implementation of SMS elements, which can be verified;
 7) “Observation” means a statement of fact made during an audit and substantiated by objective evidence;
 8) “Non-conformity” means a situation where objective evidence indicates the non-fulfilment of a specified requirement;
 9) “Major non-conformity” means an identifiable deviation that poses a serious threat to the safety of personnel or the ship or a serious risk to the environment that requires immediate corrective action and includes the lack of effective and systematic implementation of a requirement of the ISM Code.
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

§ 3.  General requirements for SMS

 (1) An operator shall develop, implement and maintain an SMS to ensure conformity to the safety of the operator and environmental protection policy in accordance with the ISM Code or Regulation No. 336/2006 depending on the type of the ship and the navigation area.
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

 (2) The SMS must ensure the safe operation of ship, occupational safety, and shall include measures for identification of risk factors and analysis of marine casualties and incidents for the purpose of preventing any reoccurrence in the future, enhance the safety management skills of the shore personnel and crew members, including their emergency preparedness.
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

 (3) In the SMS, an operator may establish higher safety and environmental protection requirements than the ones set forth in the ISM Code.

§ 4.  Evaluation of the SMS of an operator

 (1) An audit shall evaluate whether the SMS of an operator is in compliance with the safety and environmental protection requirements specified in the ISM Code or Regulation No. 336/2006. The following shall be evaluated in the course of an audit:
 1) compliance of the SMS with international maritime conventions and Estonian legislation;
 2) consideration given to various international maritime codes, guidelines and standards in the SMS;
 3) compliance by the operator with international maritime conventions, Estonian legislation, rules of recognised organisations and instructions of the shipyard that manufactured the ship and shipboard installations;
 4) ensuring the upkeep of the ship and shipboard installations during the periods in between surveys;
 5) the procedures developed by an operator, which ensure the implementation of the codes, guidelines and standards specified in clause (2) in all levels of the organisation of the operator, both ship-based as well as shore-based;
 6) proper performance of the ship operations.

 (2) An audit shall be carried out on the basis of the following evidence:
 1) documented procedures and instructions for ship operations;
 2) documented inspections of everyday ship operations, carried out by chief officers of the ship;
 3) results of the interviews carried out with the personnel of the operator.
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

§ 5.  Types of audit

  [Repealed – RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

§ 6.  Prerequisites for audit

  The prerequisite for carrying out an audit, except an additional audit, is the prior conduct of an internal audit of all levels of the organisation, both ship-based as well as shore-based, by the operator at least once in 12 months.
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

§ 7.  Application for carrying out an audit

 (1) An operator shall submit an application for carrying out an audit or additional audit for the issue of a certificate or certification of the validity of a certificate to the Maritime Administration.

 (2) At the request of the Maritime Administration, the following shall be appended to the application:
 1) the documentation of the latest internal audit of the operator;
 2) the manual of the operator.
[RTL 2007, 15, 242 – entry into force 16.02.2007]

 (3) The application shall be submitted:
 1) at least 7 working days before the requested operator audit date;
 2) at least 7 working days before the requested ship audit date if the ship is in an Estonian port;
 3) at least 14 working days before the requested ship audit date if the ship is in a foreign port; or
 4) at least 14 working days before the requested operator audit date if the operator is in a foreign country.
[RTL 2007, 15, 242 – entry into force 16.02.2007]

§ 8.  Nomination of auditors and preparation for audit

 (1) After having received the application and other documentation, the Maritime Administration shall nominate the lead auditor and, if relevant, an audit team.

 (2) The lead auditor shall liaise with the operator and produce an audit plan.

 (3) The lead auditor shall prepare the documents necessary for successful and effective conduct of the audit.

 (4) The auditor shall comply with the requirements regarding the audit, and ensure the confidentiality of the documents and information received or developed in the course of the audit.

§ 9.  Initial review of documents

 (1) The planning of an initial audit shall include prior examination of the manual and other SMS documentation in order to verify the compliance of the SMS with the requirements of the ISM Code or Regulation No. 336/2006 and Estonian legislation.
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

 (2) If it appears in the course of the initial review of documents that the SMS does not comply with the requirements, the initial audit can be postponed until the operator has implemented measures for compliance with the requirements.

§ 10.  Audit report

 (1) The lead auditor shall prepare an audit report.

 (2) The audit report shall include the audit plan, names of audit team members, date of carrying out the audit, details on the operator, records of any observations, non-conformities and major non-conformities.

 (3) If an operator is audited, one original of the audit report shall remain with the operator. If a ship is audited, one original of the audit report shall remain on the ship, and the operator shall receive one copy of the audit report.
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

§ 11.  Non-conformity

  [Repealed – RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

§ 12.  Obligations of operators

 (1) An operator shall:
 1) inform the personnel and crew members concerned with the audit about the objectives and extent of the ISM audit;
 2) appoint a representative of the operator for the duration of the audit;
 3) ensure the resources necessary for carrying out the audit;
 4) ensure the availability of the evidence required by the auditors;
 5) co-operate with the auditors to ensure achievement of the objectives of the audit.

 (2) During an audit, an operator shall make available to the auditors all information necessary for evaluating whether the SMS is in compliance with the ISM Code or Regulation No. 336/2006. The operator shall also ensure that the documents previously prepared by flag State authorities, port State control, classification societies, insurance companies, authorities of a foreign state and other inspecting organisations are made available to the auditors.
[RT I, 21.09.2011, 2 – entry into force 24.09.2011]

§ 13.  Issue, certification of validity, and duration of Documents of Compliance and Safety Management Certificates

 (1) The DOC or interim DOC (Interim Document of Compliance) and SMC or interim SMC (Interim Safety Management Certificate) shall be issued by the Maritime Administration.

 (2) The DOC in the format set out in Annexes 1 and 5 to the Regulation, or the interim DOC in the format set out in Annexes 3 and 7 to the Regulation shall be issued to an operator after the initial or complete audit in accordance with the requirements provided for in the ISM Code.
[RTL 2009, 35, 453 – entry into force 19.04.2009]

 (3) The SMC in the format set out in Annexes 2 and 6 to the Regulation, or interim SMC in the format set out in Annexes 4 and 8 shall be issued to a ship after the initial or complete audit in accordance with the requirements provided for in the ISM Code.
[RTL 2009, 35, 453 – entry into force 19.04.2009]

 (4) The DOC or SMC shall be issued for the duration of up to five years, the interim DOC shall be issued for the duration of up to 12 months and the interim SMC shall be issued for the duration of up to six months which can be renewed for the subsequent six months in exceptional cases.

 (5) The requirements for certifying the validity and the requirements for the duration of the DOC, interim DOC, SMC and interim SMC are provided for in the ISM Code.

§ 14.  Repeal of Regulation

[Omitted from this text.]

Annex 1 Document of Compliance

Annex 2 Safety Management Certificate

Annex 3 Interim Document of Compliance

Annex 4 Interim Safety Management Certificate

Annex 5 Document of Compliance

Annex 6 Safety Management Certificate

Annex 7 Interim Document of Compliance

Annex 8 Interim Safety Management Certificate