Scope. We use the same approach in both service lines: the simpler, yacht-specific system (often called a “mini-ISM”) that the flag codes ask for under 500 GT, and the full ISM Code system for yachts of 500 GT and over. See yachts under 500 GT and yachts of 500 GT and over.
1. Documentation
An SMS should be as short as it can be and as detailed as it needs to be. We structure it in three layers:
- Company manual – safety and environmental policy, responsibilities and authority, the master’s overriding authority, the role of the Designated Person, and how the system is controlled and reviewed.
- Shipboard procedures – key operations on deck, in the engine room and in the interior, written by department and in the order the work is done.
- Checklists and forms – short, practical and printable or digital. If a checklist is never filled in, we ask why.
Every document is version-controlled, every change is recorded, and obsolete copies are removed. The crew should always be able to find the current version in under a minute.
2. Training and familiarisation
New crew are familiarised with their safety duties before the yacht sails, and with the SMS within an agreed period after joining. Training needs are reviewed by department, and records are kept with the certificates they relate to.
3. Drills and exercises
Drills are planned on a schedule that meets the flag’s requirements, and are varied so that they test the crew rather than repeat a script. A good drill programme includes:
- Fire, abandon ship, man overboard and enclosed space entry drills
- Engine room scenarios: blackout, flooding, fuel leak and steering failure
- Exercises that involve the shore team, so the emergency response plan is tested end to end
- A short debrief after every drill, with lessons recorded
4. Reporting non-conformities, accidents and near misses
The flag codes require accidents, hazardous occurrences and non-conformities to be reported ashore, investigated and corrected. In practice this only works if the crew trust the system. We make reporting quick, non-punitive and visible: every report is acknowledged, every corrective action has an owner and a due date, and closed actions are shared so the crew can see that reporting changes things.
5. Internal audits
The system is checked on board and ashore by people independent of the area audited, as often as the flag requires: every year under the Marshall Islands code, and we suggest the same elsewhere. Findings are graded, agreed with the captain and tracked to close-out.
6. Management review
The system is reviewed as a whole at least as often as the flag requires (at least every three years under the Red Ensign code, every year under the Marshall Islands code), and we suggest once a year: audit findings, reports, drill debriefs, incidents, crew feedback, regulatory changes and the master’s review. The output is a short list of improvements with owners and dates, reported to the owner.
7. Emergency response
When something goes wrong, the yacht needs to reach someone ashore immediately who knows the yacht, has authority and can mobilise help. Our shore-based emergency response includes:
- A shore line, given to each client yacht in its safety management system
- A named Designated Person Ashore (DPA)
- A shore emergency response plan and contact tree: flag, class, insurers, salvage, medical assistance, owner and family office
- Pre-prepared yacht information: general arrangement, stability, crew list, fuel and pollutant quantities
- Regular exercises with the yacht, and a debrief after every real event
Our Designated Person Ashore (DPA), Henning Heltberg, is a retired Master Mariner based ashore in the UK. He is the named shore contact in each client yacht’s safety management system. The master keeps overriding authority on board.
8. Continuous improvement
A working SMS gets shorter and clearer over time, not longer. We measure it by how quickly reports are closed, how drills improve and how much the crew use it — not by the thickness of the manual.