ISM Code

The International Safety Management Code exists because many maritime accidents are caused not by a single technical failure but by weaknesses in how a ship and its shore management are organised. Adopted after a series of disasters and made mandatory through Chapter IX of SOLAS, the ISM Code requires every company that operates ships to establish, implement and maintain a Safety Management System — a documented framework of policies, procedures and responsibilities covering safe operation and pollution prevention.

At the heart of the code is the idea that safety must be managed like any other core function, with clear accountability. The company must define responsibilities from the most senior management down to the crew, provide procedures for shipboard operations and for responding to emergencies, and set up systems to report accidents, near-misses and non-conformities so that lessons are learned and corrective action taken. A key figure is the Designated Person Ashore, a named individual with direct access to top management whose job is to monitor safety and provide a link between ship and shore, ensuring that concerns raised aboard reach decision-makers.

Compliance is demonstrated through certificates and audits. The company holds a Document of Compliance for each type of ship it operates, and each ship holds a Safety Management Certificate, both issued after audits that verify the system exists and is actually being followed. Internal audits and management reviews keep it alive, and external audits by the flag state or a recognised organisation check it periodically. The intent is a genuine safety culture rather than paperwork for its own sake, though the code's success depends on crews and managers using the system honestly. Together with the ISPS Code, which addresses security, the ISM Code shapes the management structure of virtually every shipping company in the world.