Lesson 3 · 16 min
ISM Code audits: DOC, SMC and what auditors look for
You will know how the DOC and SMC audit cycle runs, how findings are graded and closed, and how a port State officer turns a broken item into an ISM deficiency.
Start here
The 2-minute primer
New to this? These 6 cards explain the lesson in plain words. Go through them first and the lesson will make sense.
Primer done.
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1/6Picture this
One recipe book, many bakeries
Think of a chain of bakeries. Head office writes the recipe book and the safety rules. Every shop must follow them, report what goes wrong, and fix it.
Inspectors visit both: head office, to check the book is run properly, and each shop, to check the bakers really use it. A shipping company works the same way, with its office ashore and each ship at sea.
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2/6The big idea
Say it, do it, check it, fix it
The ISM Code asks every shipping company to write down how it runs its ships safely, do what it wrote, check it works and fix what does not.
When the office passes its audit, the company gets a Document of Compliance. When a ship passes, it gets a Safety Management Certificate. Both last up to five years, with checks in between. The company also audits itself every year.
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3/6Words you'll meet
Six words, in plain English
- ISM Code (International Safety Management Code)
- the international rule that every shipping company must run a written safety system.
- SMS (safety management system)
- the company’s written system of procedures for running its ships safely.
- DOC (Document of Compliance)
- the certificate showing the company’s office runs its safety system properly.
- SMC (Safety Management Certificate)
- the certificate showing a particular ship runs the safety system on board.
- Non-conformity
- something the rules require that, from the evidence, is not being done.
- DPA (designated person ashore)
- a named person in the office whom the crew can reach, with direct access to top management.
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4/6Why it matters
A broken part can become a company problem
Inspectors know that a seized valve or an untested generator often means more than one broken part. It can show the whole safety system is not working.
That is why such findings can be recorded against the company’s system, not just the equipment. Safety system failures are among the most common reasons ships are held in port, and a serious one puts the certificates at risk.
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5/6In this lesson
What you’ll be able to do
- Follow the audit cycle for the office and for each ship.
- Tell an observation, a non-conformity and a major non-conformity apart.
- Know how often internal audits must happen.
- See how a port inspector links a broken item to the safety system.
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6/6Quick check
How often must a company audit its own ships and office?
Right: internal audits are due at least every 12 months, and only exceptional circumstances allow a short delay.
The basics
The ISM Code is the one instrument that turns a pile of separate rules into a system. It does not tell you how to service a lifeboat or test a fire pump. It asks whether the company has procedures for doing those things, whether people follow them, whether problems are reported and fixed, and whether management notices when the system is not working. That is why a seized davit sheave can end up recorded not only as a life-saving appliance deficiency, but as an ISM deficiency against the whole company.
Port State control figures show how often this happens. In the Tokyo MOU region in 2025, “ISM” was the second most frequent detainable deficiency (200 cases), just behind fixed fire-extinguishing installations, and “maintenance of the ship and equipment (ISM)” was in the top ten. The Tokyo MOU singled out the “constant high number and high percentage of ISM related detentions over the years” in its foreword.
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In the rest of this lesson
- Try it: Shipboard ISM audit: which findings are non-conformities?
- In plain words
- In detail
- What the rules say
- Flag and class notes
- Key numbers
- What inspectors find
- 4 questions people ask
- Quiz: 6 questions
- Ask our engineers about this lesson
Familiarisation training from Al Safwan Academy. Finishing a course shows completion of online familiarisation training: it is not an STCW, flag-approved or manufacturer qualification, and these courses don't replace that training. The manufacturer's manual and your flag's rules always come first.