ABSTRACT
To be considered seaworthy, the ship must also have on board all certificates necessary for the protection of the ship and cargo. In a sense, safety certificates are pieces of secondary, rather than primary regulation, since they are documents which declare that other specific safety rules have been complied with. For instance, Sched 3 of the MSA 199582 requires all UK ships, ships registered in a country which is a party to the International Convention on Load Lines 1966, ships flying the flag of a Convention country, except warships and fishing/pleasure vessels, to hold a load line certificate when they depart from a UK port. This certificate, in fact, declares that the ship is deemed to have been surveyed in accordance with the load line rules. Similarly, a cargo ship departing from UK ports must carry a radio certificate which declares that the vessel, among other matters, complies with the Rules for Direction Finders, as contained in the amended form of SOLAS 1974.83 Again, under the ISMC, which has been implemented as part of SOLAS 1974,84 the vessels must have a valid safety management certificate and document of compliance showing that the management system in respect of that vessel complies with the requirements of the ISMC.85
