Marshall Islands: Issuance and Use of Statutory Certificates

The Republic of the Marshall Islands Maritime Administrator has issued a notice regarding the issuance and use of statutory certificates.

Purpose

This Marine Notice (MN) clarifies:

• the terminology which describes statutory certificates for compliance with SOLAS Chapter I, Part B, and other instruments to which the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is a party; and
• establishes the policies of the RMI Maritime Administrator (the “Administrator”) for the issuance and use of statutory certificates.

This MN supersedes Rev. Feb/2017. Section 1.4.2 has been amended to provide an exception for loss of anchor.

In addition, §4.3 has been updated to incorporate the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) technical files to the list of documents.

Applicability

This MN applies to all RMI-flagged vessels and all Classification Societies and Appointed Representatives acting on behalf of the Administrator as a Recognized Organization (RO).

Requirements

1.0 Statutory Certificates

The following policy applies, in accordance with the RMI Maritime Regulations, to the issuance and use of statutory certificates.

1.1 Acceptable Forms

Statutory certificates must be issued as:

• .1 Full Term;
• .2 Interim; or
• .3 Short Term.

1.2 Full Term Certificates

A Full Term certificate may be issued upon satisfactory completion of an initial or renewal survey indicating that the ship and its equipment meet the applicable provisions of a particular convention.

A Full Term certificate may also be issued or re-issued when all deficiencies, which may have led to the issuance of a Short Term certificate, are corrected. The certificate is issued in the format prescribed by the applicable Convention with a term of validity as set forth in that Convention.

1.3 Interim

• .1 An Interim certificate may be issued by an attending Surveyor upon satisfactory completion of a survey in order to permit the ship to trade while the Full Term certificate is being prepared by the RO’s head or regional office.
• .2 An Interim certificate shall normally be valid for no longer than five months from the issue date.
• .3 These certificates must not be confused with those issued under the International Safety Management (ISM) Code, International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, and Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006) by ROs and Recognized Security Organizations (RSOs), which allow ships to operate during the implementation periods allotted for safety management systems and security plans.

1.4 Short Term

• .1 Provided there is not a detainable deficiency (refer to Annex A, IACS Rec.No. 98), the RO may issue a Short Term certificate to allow a vessel to proceed to sea, with deficiencies that cannot be corrected in the port of survey, to a port where the permanent repairs are to be made.
• .2 Where a Detainable Deficiency or serious safety-related matter has been discovered and a temporary measure(s) related to that deficiency is imposed, the vessel owner or operator must provide a proposal for corrective action(s) to the RO who shall review the proposal and provide a detailed recommendation to the Administrator on actions to be taken by the owner or operator to address the deficiency or defect.
  • a. The written approval of the Administrator must be obtained before a
    Short Term certificate is issued. In such cases, the Short Term certificate shall be issued to replace the Full Term certificate.
  • b. An exception to this is for loss of anchor where the validity of the Short Term certificate is for two months or less (see Technical Circular 12).
• .3 Any Detainable Deficiency must be relegated to minor status, to the satisfaction of the attending Surveyor, before the vessel will be allowed to proceed under a Short Term certificate.
• .4 Short Term certificates must:
  • a. provide for a generally equivalent level of safety, where possible;
  • b. provide for a specified period before expiration during which more acceptable and permanent full compliance will be provided; and
  • c. be limited in validity to a period not exceeding two months, except when specifically allowed in writing by the Administrator.
• .5 These certificates must not be confused with those issued under the ISM and ISPS Codes which allow ships to operate after successful audits for safety management systems and security plans while Full Term certification is being prepared by the head or regional office of the RO or RSO.
• .6 The owner or operator is responsible for making certain that conditions on board a vessel do not deteriorate after the issuance of a Short Term certificate and that the deficiency is rectified in accordance with the conditions on the certificate.
• .7 The RO is required to monitor and follow up on vessels issued Short Term certificates, especially when the owner/operator has allowed the certificate to expire.

2.0 Conditions of Authority, Statutory Memos / Conditions / Recommendations / Deficiencies (or equivalent wording)

In cases where a Short Term certificate is not required (see §1.4, above), the RO may issue a temporary Condition of Authority / Statutory Memo / Condition / Recommendation / Deficiency, with an assigned due date to allow a vessel to proceed to sea, with minor findings that cannot be corrected in the port of survey, to a port where the permanent repairs are to be made. Alternatively, the Condition of Authority / Statutory Memo / Condition / Recommendation / Deficiency may be issued for the time needed to rectify the deficiency.

3.0 Electronic statutory and class certificates and survey reports

Subject to prior review and acceptance by the Administrator in writing of the form of the certificates and the procedures an RO has in place, the Administrator hereby authorizes the issuance of electronic statutory and class certificates and survey reports by the RO on behalf of the Administrator.

Electronic certificates must conform to the IMO Circular FAL.5/Circ.39/Rev2, Guidelines for the Use of Electronic Certificates, as corrected by FAL.5/Circ.39/Rev.2/Corr.1.

4.0 Re-approval of documents after change of flag or class (RO)

4.1 The Administrator considers that documents listed in §4.3 do not need to be re-approved upon flag change (and Class entry), if they were previously approved by:

• .1 another Administration signatory to the same convention; or
• .2 an RO authorized by the Administrator on behalf of another Administration signatory to the same convention.

4.2 The RO must endorse the respective document to reflect the Administrator’s acceptance of the previous approval.

This Marine Notice was issued on 1 September 2023.

For more information, please see the document below (available only to subscribers):

Issuance and Use of Statutory Certificates