The Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance is amending its Policy Letter 17-02, “Use of Existing Safety Management Systems to Obtain an Initial Certificate of Inspection Under 46 CFR Subchapter M,” to provide an equivalency to vessels using an existing safety management system to provide three years of objective evidence in lieu of having a TSMS Certificate for six months prior to issuance of a vessel’s initial COI. The three years of objective evidence includes, but is not limited to, three years of external management audits for the company and is based on provisions found in 46 CFR 138.225. The company must still obtain a TSMS Certificate prior to the initial issuance of a Certificate of Inspection to any of its vessels.

Review Policy Letter 17-02 (Change 1) for full details.

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