International Maritime Conventions and National Regulation: Instruments, Delegation and Certificate Arithmetic
This domain tests public law at sea: which instrument governs a given ship and deficiency, who has power to enforce it, and which document proves compliance. Questions usually present a ship type, a date and a defect, then ask which certificate, survey window or administration applies.
Instruments that carry the marks
- SOLAS 1974 as amended: Chapter I (survey and certification), II-1 (subdivision, machinery, electrical), II-2 (fire), III (LSA), IV (radio), V (navigation), VI and VII (cargoes and dangerous goods), IX (ISM), XI-1 and XI-2 (ISM-related and ISPS).
- MARPOL 73/78, Annexes I to VI, built on Article 5(4) "no more favourable treatment": a port State applies the same standard to non-parties as to parties. The BWM Convention 2004 and the AFS Convention 2001 use the same principle.
- Load Line Convention 1966 and its 1988 Protocol, COLREG 1972, STCW 1978 as amended (Manila 2010), Tonnage 1969, MLC 2006, CSC 1972, Salvage 1989.
Delegation and enforcement
A flag Administration may delegate statutory work to a recognised organisation only under a written agreement consistent with the IMO RO Code. Class certificates are contractual; statutory certificates are issued by or on behalf of the Administration and remain its responsibility. Port State control is an independent right and needs no consent from the flag State.
Certification arithmetic under the 1988 HSSC Protocol
Certificates run for a maximum of five years. Annual surveys fall within three months before to three months after each anniversary date; the intermediate survey is at or between the second and third anniversary. The ISM Document of Compliance is a company certificate with annual audits; the Safety Management Certificate is ship-specific.
Worked example
A Safety Equipment Certificate expires 15 June. The renewal survey is completed 20 April, inside the three-month pre-expiry window, so the replacement certificate is dated from 15 June and expires no later than five years from 15 June. Had the survey finished on 10 March, the new certificate would run from 10 March and the anniversary would shift. The date of survey completion does not automatically become the start date.
Traps
Mixing up DOC and SMC; treating the annual survey window as the calendar year; assuming class certification satisfies a statutory requirement; forgetting that MARPOL applies equally to non-parties.