A full term certificate (e.g. for 5 year validity) can only be issued when there are only minor defects that need to be rectified which are not considered to significantly affect safety and pollution prevention and there is no reason to believe that the owner and master will not complete rectification by the assigned date.
A short term certificate, with a maximum validity of 5 months unless agreed otherwise, may be issued in certain circumstances, for example: (1) where a renewal survey of a harmonized certificate has been completed but the MCA is unable to arrange for issue of the new full term certificate in time (as permitted by SOLAS reg. I/14(d)); (2) when significant defects remain outstanding but a timescale for remedial action or strict conditions have been agreed; (3) when a ship’s stability has not yet been finally approved, but a provisional stability book has been submitted to MCA and is on board the ship.
