(1) The Company applies to the MCA for initial DOC verification.
(2) A document review (an inspection of the SMS documentation) is carried out as part of the pre-audit assessment. (3) An initial audit of the Company’s shore- based management organisation is carried out for compliance with the ISM Code’s requirements. (4) A DOC is issued to the Company following successful audit of the shore-side aspects of the SMS. (Objective evidence should be available to show that the Company has been operating the SMS ashore for at least 3 months and for 3 months on at least one ship of each type operated by the Company. ) In the case of a new Company the DOC will be an Interim DOC. (5) An audit of the Company’s ships is carried out to verify compliance with the ISM Code’s requirements. This includes a verification that the DOC for the Company responsible for the operation of the ship is applicable to that particular type of ship and that a copy DOC is held on board. (6) On successful completion of audit of each ship a Safety Management Certificate is issued to the ship. (For questions on the Safety Management Certificate see Section D )
