The Company and the vessel will keep appropriate records of inspections and maintenance. The Classification Society Quarterly Reports and Survey Status Reports will be held in the office and copied to the vessels.

Records of maintenance can be maintained in paper or electronic form. If records are not “live”, they must be transmitted to the ship management team at least once each month for review.

Where checks, inspections and maintenance cannot be easily demonstrated to third parties (such as Class or the authorities), photographs must be taken and kept with the record of maintenance.

A planned maintenance system will be developed for each vessel managed by the company. This system will generally be electronic and will provide a means of recording all work that falls due and all work that is carried out whether planned or exceptional. The system may be in the form of a third-party tool or application, or may make use of the forms which are attached to this system. The vessel will be advised which system is in use onboard.

Fire and Safety equipment is to be inspected and maintained at weekly and monthly intervals as defined by the Planned Maintenance System in use or (where such a standalone system is not in place) by the Forms appended to this system.

01. Targets (KPI's) for Planned Maintenance
Ideally, all Planned Maintenance items should be completed and reported before their due date. This ensures maintenance is carried out in a planned way, and prevents jobs "backing up" in the Planned Maintenance System.

If a job is not completed by the due date, generally there should be a reason for this, and the Assigned and Responsible Ranks should be able to explain why.

It is recognised that in some circumstances, it may not be possible to complete certain jobs. Access, cargo restrictions, operations may all prevent planned jobs being completed on time. In these cases it is preferred that jobs are properly deferred. The proper procedure for deferral is set out below.

To promote timely completion of Planned Maintenance Jobs, the Company has defined "KPI" targets for the maximum number of overdue or overdue running jobs at the end of each month, as follows:

- No Crew Member should have more than 10 overdue PMS jobs at the end of any month.
- No Crew Member should have any overdue critical PMS jobs at the end of any month.
- The Master and Chief Engineer should not have more than 30 overdue jobs each to review (running jobs) at the end of any month.


02. Deferring Planned Maintenance
From time to time, it may be necessary to defer planned maintenance items. For example, it may be impossible to carry out a scheduled task due to the nature of the cargo onboard the ship, restrictions in ports or due to adverse weather on passage. Where a deferal is necessary, it may be authorised by the Master or Chief Engineer only and must meet the following conditions:

- Any deferal must be recorded in the Planned Maintenance System (using the defer function),
- Any deferal must be as short as possible,
- Any deferal must not place the ship, or those onboard her in danger,
- The reason for the deferal must be recorded in the Planned Maintenance System

Maintenance which is not deferred actively in the Planned Maintenance System will be considered overdue.

Depending on the period of deferal required, the Master may need to inform the company:
- Any deferal of jobs related to Critical Equipment requires Company approval.
- For any weekly job, a deferal of more than one week must be reported to the Company.
- For any fortnightly job, a deferal of more than one week must be reported to the Company.
- For any monthly job, a deferal of more than two weeks must be reported to the Company.
- For any other job, a deferal of more than one month must be reported to the Company.

A deferal of one month or more requires a risk assessment.

Any deferal of more than one month requires approval from the Company. This includes repeated deferals of a shorter duration which in total exceed one month.

This section applies to any Planned Maintenance Jobs deferred after 01.10.2024.

Should any item of critical equipment fail, the ship management team or DPA must be notified and advice sought on how best to proceed. Where required, specific inspections, tests or maintenance has been included below, but note this is a minimum requirement that will be supplemented by planned maintenance requirements:

Critical equipment includes, but is not limited to:
• Bridge and Navigational Equipment
• ECDIS and supporting systems, where fitted
• Electrical distribution systems
• Emergency generator and emergency switchboard
o To be tested operationally at least quarterly
o To include a blackout test, automatic starting of the generator and power supply
• Fuel systems
o Maintenance to include test of emergency shut-down systems
• Steering gear
o Maintenance to include operation of emergency steering
o Maintenance to include testing communications from steering flat to bridge
• Detection, alarm and shut-down systems
• Emergency systems
o Includes fire flaps and dampers
- All flaps and dampers to be numbered and marked accordingly
- Ship to carry a list of flaps and dampers with number and locations
• Life boats, Life Rafts and Rescue boats, their launching appliances and their on load release gear
• Crane Wire Ropes
• Cargo Securing Equipment

Safety equipment is there to save lives. It must be properly maintained and ready for use at all times. This means ensuring it is in a suitable condition for use, that it is regularly tested and that sufficient spares are available onboard.

The Master has overall responsibility for the maintenance of safety equipment.

The maintenance and testing routines for all safety equipment are provided in the SMMS Planned Maintenance System. These must be followed and required jobs signed off with evidence of their proper completion.

Rescue Boat Outboard Motors
The following specific guidance for rescue boat motors is provided for information and guidance. It does not replace the SMMS planned maintenance jobs! 

Rescue Boat Outboard Motor - How to Run a Boat Motor Out of the Water

As shown in the guide, the correct way to test or run an outboard motor when not in the water is using "earmuffs" to ensure a good flow of water into the motor and avoid damaging the water pump. However, we are aware that some inspectors will not allow testing using "earmuffs" and instead require testing to be completed with a drum or bucket - to simulate the engine being in the water.

If the inspector requests this, you should comply. But it is extremely important that the drum or bucket used is filled to what would be the boats waterline if it were in the water. If there is not enough water in the drum, the pump may be damaged or might not be able to suck water into the motor, leading to a failed test.

Always flush an outboard motor with fresh water after use or test runs.

The company has implemented an Asbestos Management Plan for each vessel, which complies with the requirements of MSC 1045. Copies of this plan have been provided on board and are to be complied with at all times.

A schedule and record of the maintenance of batteries used for essential and emergency services will be maintained for every vessel in the fleet. The details of maintenance and inspections of such batteries is to be reported to the office at appropriate intervals, as determined by the systems in place onboard the vessel. Normally such reporting will be carried out monthly. 

Form FM07 is provided for maintaining this record, however this form must be supplemented by a ship specific "battery reference file" or similar setting out the relevant battery specifications. Details of this reference for battery maintenance (manual name, number, page details etc) must be indicated on form FM07 and a copy of this reference file should be attached to (or at least kept with) the ship specific form FM07. As a minimum, this file, along with form FM07 must specify the following (as per IACS UR R18):

Where batteries are fitted for use for essential (UI SC134) and emergency services a schedule of such batteries is to be compiled and maintained. The schedule, which is to be reviewed by the Society, during plan approval or the newbuilding survey, is to include at least the following information regarding the battery(ies):

- Type and manufacturer’s type designation.
- Voltage and ampere-hour rating.
- Location.
- Equipment and/or system(s) served.
- Maintenance/replacement cycle dates.
- Date(s) of last maintenance and/or replacement.
- For replacement batteries in storage, the date of manufacture and shelf life.