Anyone who is involved in the shipping industry understands what a crucial role safety plays in ensuring the smooth operation of modern vessels and the place ISM / ISPS codes have in this system.

Despite the fact the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (“ISM Code”) only came into force on the 1st of July, 2002, well before this date the appropriate Safety Management System elaborated and implemented with assistance of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RMRS) was properly set up in our Odessa office.

Two years later the safety management system of the Company was duly amended and modified in order to be in compliance with requirements of International Ship & Port Facility Security Code (“ISPS Code”), which became mandatory for all shipowners and their technical managers since the 1st of July, 2004.

As ISM/ISPS managers we have assumed responsibility for operating of our ships. This means to ensure safety, to prevent human injury or loss of life, and to avoid damage to the environment, in particular, the marine environment, and to property. We have established and implemented a policy for achieving these objectives. This includes providing the necessary resources and shore-based support.

ISM/ISPS Department of the Company is headed by our highly skilled and qualified Technical Director/DPA (“Designated Person Ashore”) and experienced Deputy DPA - Company Security Officer (CSO), which are providing 24-hours monitoring of our ships and their crews.

A matter of special attention for our ISM/ISPS Department is the situation with piracy in the Gulf of Aden and neighbouring waters. Due to specific requirements of our ship’s employment our vessels are quite often forced to pass “dangerous areas” that require extraordinary ship security and anti-piracy services including escort of vessel with armed security team on board.

The lives of our personnel aboard ships are our highest priority, that is why despite the fact that all our vessels transit dangerous areas via the Maritime Security Patrol Area (“MSPA”) in the Gulf of Aden we take on board an armed security team during each transit in order to avoid as much as possible the risk of hijacking.