Circular Letter
MSC.1/Circ.1253

SHIPBOARD TECHNICAL OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE MANUALS

(12 October 2007)

 

 

1. The Maritime Safety Committee, at its eighty-third session (3—12 October 2007), considered the recommendation that the attention of all relevant stakeholders needs to be drawn to the importance of ships' crews having access to up-to-date, accurate and user-friendly shipboard technical operating and maintenance manuals, particularly for safety-critical marine equipment.

 

2. The Committee noted that there exists a global and competitive marketplace for marine equipment and that seafarers were expected to assimilate different equipment fitted on board quickly and operate them efficiently. Also, seafarers were expected to be able to move from ship to ship with few restrictions; this flexibility being essential for the efficient management of human resources. Consequently, seafarers are likely to encounter a wide variety of equipment fitted on board.

 

3. The Committee also noted that the availability on board ships of up-to-date and accurate operating and maintenance manuals could be enforced via the implementation and enforcement mechanisms of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code.

 

4. The Committee further noted IACS Recommendation No. 71 (dated September 2000) "Guide for the development of shipboard technical manuals and agreed that this Guide provided" a useful reference for those responsible for developing such manuals.

 

5. In light of the foregoing, Member Governments are invited to:

 

.1 recognize the necessity for up-to-date, accurate and user-friendly shipboard technical operating and maintenance manuals to be available on board ships;

 

.2 recommend that IACS Recommendation No.71 is used as a model for shipboard technical operating and maintenance manuals;

 

.3 recommend that shipboard technical operating and maintenance manuals should be provided in the working language of the ship and if the working language is not English, French or Spanish, a translation into English, or French, or Spanish should be provided; and