The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is changing the way a Passenger Vessel certificate is issued. These have, up until now, been a combined Passenger Certificate (PC) and Domestic Safety Management Certificate (DSMC) which have been valid for five years with annual endorsements.
The MCA is now splitting the one certificate into two certificates; a PC and a DSMC. The PC will only be valid for one year whilst the DSMC will be valid for five years, but will need an interim audit on the 2nd or 3rd anniversary that the certificate was issued. The MCA has stated that this audit would take place during the running trials to minimise costs. A full crew will be required and drills will need to be performed to the satisfaction of the MCA. As well as this, owners will now be required to submit to the MCA an annual self-assessment against their Safety Management System (SMS).
As of 1 September 2016, all new PCs will require a company audit date.
For further information on this change, please see:
MGN 536 (M) Safety Management Code For Domestic Passenger Ships: MGN_536__M_
MSN 1869 (M) Safety Management Code For Domestic Passenger Ships: MSN_1869