SOLAS Chapter IX and the ISM Code aren’t just regulations, they set the standard for Safety Management Systems, Shipboard Management Manuals, and Safety Management Certificates, ensuring crew safety, operational accountability, and compliance across every voyage.

International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974
The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships. The main objective of the SOLAS Convention is to specify minimum standards for the construction, equipment and operation of ships, compatible with their safety. Flag States are responsible for ensuring that ships under their flag comply with its requirements, and a number of certificates are prescribed in the Convention as proof that this has been done.

Chapter IX – Management for the Safe Operations of the Ships
The Chapter makes mandatory the International Safety Management (ISM) Code, which requires a safety management system to be established by the shipowner or any person who has assumed responsibility for the ship (the “Company”).

The ISM Code is expressed in broad terms and based on general principles and objectives. This provides companies with the scope to develop their own safety management system (SMS) whilst meeting the provisions of the ISM Code. The Code imposes no prescriptive measures and takes a holistic view of a Company and the way in which it operates its ships. The objectives of the ISM Code are to ensure safety at sea, prevention of human injury, loss of life and the avoidance of damage to the environment, in particular to the marine environment. The ISM Code requires owners and operators of ships to put in place a Safety Management System (SMS), the mandatory application of which is to ensure compliance with rules and regulations related to the objectives of the Code and the effective implementation and enforcement thereof by Flag State Administrations.

At Petani Law & Tax, we navigate maritime law with precision and professionalism, delivering clarity, compliance, and results. Kliko për të parë infografikën.