1 In SOLAS and other mandatory IMO instruments
the following provision applies: “If a ship at the time when
a certificate expires is not in a port in which it is to be surveyed,
the Administration may extend the period of validity of a certificate
but this extension shall be granted only for the purpose of allowing
the ship to complete its voyage to the port in which it is to be surveyed,
and then only in cases where it appears proper and reasonable
to do so. No certificate shall be extended for a period longer
than three months, and a ship to which an extension is granted shall
not, on its arrival in the port in which is to be surveyed, be entitled
by virtue of such extension to leave that port without having a new
certificate.”
2 If a ship is in a port where the required survey
cannot be completed, and where the Convention allows the Administration
to extend the certificate when it is proper and reasonable to do so,
the Administration should be guided by the following:
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.1 an additional survey, equivalent to at least
the same scope of an annual survey required by the relevant certificate(s)
should be carried out;
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.2 the renewal survey should be progressed to
the maximum extent possible;
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.3 in cases where a dry docking is required, but
cannot be carried out, an underwater inspection of the ship’s
bottom should be carried out;
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.4 in cases where an underwater inspection is
not possible (e.g. poor water visibility, draft restrictions, excessive
current, refusal by the port Authority), an internal inspection of
the ship’s bottom structure, to the maximum extent practicable,
should be carried out;
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.5 the ship should be allowed to sail directly
to a named final agreed cargo discharge port and then directly to
a named agreed port to complete the survey and/or dry docking;
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.6 the extension period should be for the minimum
amount of time needed to complete the survey and/or dry docking under
the relevant certificate(s);
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.7 the condition of the ship found by the surveys
indicated above should be considered in determining the duration,
distance and operational restrictions, if any, of the voyage needed
to complete the survey and/or dry docking; and
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.8 the extension period of the relevant statutory
certificate(s) should not exceed the period of validity of the certificate
which may be issued to document compliance with the structural, mechanical
and electrical requirements of the recognized classification society.