SEVEN of the 35 members of the International Ship Managers' Association (ISMA) have received their ISMA quality assurance certificates, according to the association.
Another nine members have applied for their audits and are either undergoing accreditation (four companies) or are awaiting the full audit to start in the next three months.
Of the remaining 19 members, 11 have undergone an intermediate audit to ascertain that they are progressing purposefully towards code accreditation.
These intermediate audits have to be carried out by members of the Audit Body about 18 months after a company has joined ISMA.
The Audit Body, which last met in November, is now auditing ISMA members to include the requirements of the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) International Safety Management (ISM) code. The ISMA Code exceeds all the elements of the ISM Code.
ISMA Code certificates presented in the future will reflect the incorporation of the ISM Code.