The International Safety Management (ISM) Code requires involvement and responsibility of the company in enforcing ’emergency preparedness’ procedures for a ship and its personnel. The primary objective of shipboard emergency prevention, preparedness and response activities should be to develop and implement an efficient and effective system which will minimize the risks to human life, the marine environment and property, with a continuous effort towards improvement. To achieve this objective, there is a need for the co-ordination of safety procedures between the company and their ships.

Responsibility of the Company with Emergency Preparedness

• The Company should identify potential emergency shipboard situations, and establish procedures to respond to them.
• The Company should establish programmes for drills and exercises to prepare for emergency actions.
• The SMS should provide for measures ensuring that the Company’s organization can respond at any time to hazards, accidents and emergency situations involving it ships.

Advantages of such a system are:

1. Clear instructions on roles and responsibilities of shore and ship personnel at the time of an emergency are explained.
2. A list of names and contact numbers of all relevant parties is readily available.
3. Procedures to be followed in response to varying emergency scenarios helps to effectively deal with the emergency.
4. Checklist for specific emergency separately available.
5. Immediate reference to procedures for requesting emergency services from third parties.
6. The evaluation and verification of drills and exercises helps to determine the effectiveness of documented procedures and identify system improvements.
7. Responsible personnel ashore is available for co-ordination of ship-shore activities during emergency.

Forming an Emergency Team

The Company should ensure that each ship is manned with qualified, certificated and medically fit seafarers in accordance with national and international requirements in order to form an effective emergency team on ships. The Company should establish procedures for the preparation of plans and instructions for key shipboard operations concerning the safety of the ship and the prevention of pollution. The various tasks of the team involved should be defined and assigned to qualified personnel. Finally, company should formulate improvements in the present system based on the lessons learned from previous exercises or real emergencies of the emergency response team.

Emergency Situations

The Company should ensure that the master is given the necessary support so that the master’s duties can be safely performed. Master informs DPA during an emergency situation. The Company is responsible for ensuring that adequate resources and shore-based support are provided to enable the designated person or persons to carry out their functions. Company provides support by evaluating the technical aspects of the emergency and identifying concerns and possible courses of action to be taken. Company helps in evaluation of the vessel’s stability and strength in the actual damage condition as well as advice on remedial actions to gain control over the ship. The Company should have procedures for carrying out the corrective and preventive actions suggested by analysis of accidents happened.

Maintaining Contact Between Ship and Office

To ensure the safe operation of each ship and to provide a link between the company and those on board, every company, as appropriate, should designate a person or persons ashore having direct access to the highest level of management. The responsibility and authority of the designated person or persons should include monitoring the safety and pollution prevention aspects of the operation of each ship and to ensure that adequate resources and shore based support are applied, as required.

Use of Ship Relevant Information

The SMS should contain procedures that require reports to be prepared and forwarded to the Company on all accidents, hazardous occurrences and non conformities. They should be monitored by the DPA and the appropriate corrective action determined with the ultimate aim of avoiding a recurrence of the incident or non-conformity. Any deviation from the SMS procedures and instructions, that represents a nonconformity, should be recorded, raised on a non-conformity note and forwarded to the DPA. The reports should be recorded, investigated, evaluated, analysed and acted upon as necessary. There should be procedures for feedback to the reporting ship and for circulation around all appropriate areas. Motivation is a significant factor in the success of the management system and feedback is a powerful motivator. Feedback should be recorded.

Evaluation and analysis may lead to:

• Iidentification and implementation of corrective action
• Benefits to the whole Company
• Amendments to existing procedures; and
• Development of new procedures.