Ships Certificates part one: By size and tonnage
Who needs which certs
In this first article of a multi-part series on ships certificates we will be looking at which certificates are require by which ships. The most logical way to do this is by going up in tonnage, then branching out into more specialist ship types. An extremely likely question, particularly in a Chief Mate/Master Mariner oral exam, is:
‘What certificates would you check on taking over as master on your last ship?’
I got this exact question in my Master Mariner orals, and started reeling off the list of certificates below. Note that just knowing a list of certs is only a start; you’ll be expected to know the forms that go with them, who issues them and what details are on both the certificate and their forms, but we’ll come to that in other articles.
Relevant M-notices and documents: The MS (Survey and Certification) regulations 2015, SOLAS, MARPOL
First of all, though, the certificates that are required by foreign-going ships regardless of their size:
Certificate of Registry
Ship Sanitation Certificate
Next, certificates required by ships over 24m in length. I think of these as the old fashioned certs:
Load Line Certificate
Tonnage Certificate
Now for ships over 100GT:
Garbage Management Plan (not strictly a certificate, but we’ll come to more garbage related stuff later, and ‘what documents regarding garbage does a ship of x gross tonnes require) is a classic MCA question; the answer being usually a GMP, a ISPPC and placards in the galley and on the bridge)
Here we get to a slightly odd pair; the certs needed for a ship over 300GT:
Cargo Ship Safety Radio
Wreck Removal Insurance (there are other insurance related certs, and it’s worth learning some of these together as an examiner may ask about insurance-related certificates onboard).
At 400GT we start to hit the ‘big blocks’ with what I think of as the environmental, or MARPOL certificates:
International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate
International Sewage Prevention Certificate (also needed for ships of any size licensed to carry more than 15 persons)
International Air Pollution Prevention Certificate (also needed for ships with any engines of over 130kW)
International Energy Efficiency Certificate
Shipboard Energy Efficiency Management Plan
Antifouling Certificate
Oil Record Book part I (Not a certificate, but worth learning about here)
The second big block is the SOLAS certificates, for ships >500GT:
Safety Management Certificate (note that this is also for passenger vessels of any size)*
Maritime Labour Certificate*
International Ship Security Certificate*
*I remember these three as the ‘flag state certificates’. They are the three reserved by the flag state under the Alternative Compliance Scheme.
Minimum Safe Manning Document
Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate
Cargo Ship Safety Construction Certificate
Continuous Synopsis Record
Document of Compliance (while this is issued to the company, it is expected that the vessel will have a copy onboard.)
Over 1000GT, another insurance certificate is required:
Certificate of Insurance or other Financial Security in respect of civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution damage
Passenger ships (ships carrying more than 12 passengers) are slightly different:
Passenger Ship Safety Certificate
If over 300GT, a Continuous Synopsis Record
Other (Load Line, MARPOL etc.) are the same as for cargo ships.
We’ll look at more specialised certificates (for ships carrying dangerous goods, liquified gases etc.) in another article. For most ships the above list is an excellent starting point. It’s easy to get intimidated by ships certificates; it can look like an enormous wall of information. The way to approach them is logically and progressively, learning the detail for each cert only once you know where the cert sits in the overall scheme of things.
MCAQs:
You join your last ship as master; what certs do you check as part of your handover?
What cert is not required on a vessel of 998GT?
Your ship is has started taking passengers as well as cargo. You have eleven passengers onboard; do you need another certificate? Now you intend to start carrying 15 passengers, what certificates do you now need?
Which two certificates are not required if your vessel is under 24m in length?
Which of the certificates above do not have expiry dates?
You plan to sail in two hours. You go down to your cabin and start going through some certificates and notice that your Certificate of Registry has expired, what do you do?
Same question as above, but you notice that your Wreck Removal Insurance has expired.