1.1 The ISM Code establishes
an international standard for the safe management and operation of
ships by defining elements which must be taken into account for the
organization of company management in relation to ship safety and
pollution prevention. Since emergencies, as well as cargo spillage,
cannot be entirely controlled, either through design or through normal
operational procedures, emergency preparedness and pollution prevention
should form part of the company's ship safety management. For this
purpose, every company is required by the ISM Code to
develop, implement and maintain a Safety Management System (SMS).
1.2 Within this SMS, potential emergency shipboard
situations should be identified and procedures should be established
to respond to them.
1.3 If the preparation of response actions for
the many possible varying types of emergency situations which may
occur are formulated on the basis of a complete and detailed case-by-case
consideration, a great deal of duplication will result.
1.4 To avoid duplication, shipboard contingency
plans must differentiate between "initial actions" and the major response
effort involving "subsequent response", depending on the emergency
situation and the type of ship.
1.5 A two-tier course of action provides the basis
for a modular approach, which can avoid unnecessary duplication.
1.6 It is recommended that a uniform and integrated
system of shipboard emergency plans should be treated as part of the
ISM Code, forming a fundamental part of the company's individual SMS.
1.7 An illustration of how such a structure of
a uniform and integrated system of shipboard emergency plans with
its different modules can be incorporated into an individual SMS is
shown in appendix 1.