What is the difference between the company audit and the ship audit under the ISM Code?
Short answer
| DOC (company) | SMC (ship) | Internal audit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verifies | the company has a compliant SMS | the ship operates that SMS | activities comply with the SMS |
| Auditor | Administration or RO, external | Administration or RO, external | the company’s own auditors |
| Validity | 5 years, annual verification | 5 years, one intermediate verification between the 2nd and 3rd anniversary | intervals not exceeding 12 months |
| Where | ashore, office | on board | both |
| Dependency | a copy carried on board | needs a valid DOC for the ship type | feeds ISM 9 and the management review |
- Company audit, DOC: the company has established and implemented a compliant SMS; the Document of Compliance goes to the company for its ship types, five years with annual verification, a copy on board.
- Ship audit, SMC: the ship operates the approved SMS; the Safety Management Certificate goes to the ship, five years with an intermediate verification between the second and third anniversaries; no SMC without a valid DOC.
- Internal audit (ISM 12.1): the company audits itself and its ships at intervals not exceeding twelve months with its own auditors, feeding non-conformities (ISM 9) and the management review.
- India: the M.S. (Management for the Safe Operation of Ships) Rules 2000 under the MS Act 2025 (rule 5 DOC and SMC, rule 8 certification, rule 9); DGMA or its RO audits.
- As Chief Engineer: at the SMC audit I present the machinery-space SMS in practice; what the SMS says the department does must be what it does.
Full answer
The full answer explains each point step by step, with the regulations and figures behind it and the discussion from other candidates. It is in the MEO Class I section of the Marine One forum, open to members enrolled for the MEO Class I exam.