It is aimed at ensuring that ships while being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not pose any unnecessary risk to human health and safety or the environment. In addition, the HKC and EU SRR regulation seeks to ensure the proper management of hazardous materials on board ships.
The IHM is essential for the vessel from its construction to throughout its operational stage. Maintaining compliance for the entire service life of a vessel does not happen by itself. Any change onboard must be notified and an updated IHM report is required every time something changes.
IHM maintenance is to keep track of any changes in the use of materials on board, for instance, installation, removal, repair, or replacement of vessel’s hull, machinery, or equipment, which may be hazardous, and update the inventory accordingly.
It provides the training and familiarisation to the ship staff in IHM Awareness and the risk and hazards associated with the Hazardous Materials.
Scope of IHM Maintenance
According to EU SRR and HKC, the scope of IHM Maintenance is to collect Material Declaration (MD), and Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) if any changes related to IHM Part I, to identify the hazardous materials in the Material Declaration and update the IHM part I till the end of the operational life of the ships. MDs and SDoCs are only to be collected for the relevant items which may contain Hazardous Material.