The Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) accepts electroic security plans, but an original approval letter and any attachments must be stamped and signed and available on board together with the certificate and the electronic plan.

The Norwegian Maritime Authority's certification process for non-delegated ships

Temporary certification for ships not having a Norwegian ISSC

  1. The company develops a ship security assessment (SSA) and ship security plan (SSP) in accordance with current national and international requirements (SOLAS, ISPS, EC725/2004 and FOR972/2004).
  2. The CSO requests a verification no later than three months before the desired date of verification Altinn.
  3. When a request has been received, the NMA will appoint an ISPS syrveyor who will contact CSO and submit a verification notification.
  4. CSO sends SSA and SSP to the ISPS surveyor for approval. The documents should be treated as confidential and be protected according to further instructions.
  5. An ISPS surveyor will carry out an inspection on board. If the requirements for the temporary certificate are met, a temporary ISSC (I-ISSC) certificate valid for a maximum of six months will be issued. An I-ISSC may not be extended.
  6. The I-ISSC should be accompanied by an original letter from the NMA confirming that SSA and SSP have been received for processing and approval. This letter must be available on board together with the I-ISSC.

Document review

The NMA carries out a full document review of submitted documentation. The SSP must be approved before an initial verification can be carried out on board.

Once the SSP has been approved, the company will receive a stamped and signed front page and table of contents together with an original approval letter clearly showing the date of the initial approval of the SSP. This letter must accompany the certificate as long as it is valid under the Norwegian flag.

Initial verification

CSO requires initial verification through Altinn. The NMA carries out the initial verification on board the ship, and issues a fulltime ISSC valid for a maximum of 5 years if everything complies with the ISPS legislation and the ship's security plan.

Intermediate verification

Between the second and third anniversary date of the certificate, an intermediate verification must be done, and this should be requested via Altinn.

CSO will be contacted by an ISPS surveyor for further action.

Renewal verification

A renewal verification (requested via Altinn) must be done before the certificate expires:

  • If the renewal verification is done within 3 months befor the ISSC expires, you will get a new certificate expiry date which is the same as the old one plus five years.
  • If the renewal verification is done more than 3 months befor the ISSC expires, the new date of expiry will be the date of verification plus five years.

Additional verification

If necessary, the NMA may require additional verification.

Invalid certificate

The certificate must be returned to the Norwegian Maritime Authority if:

  • the verifications described in the ISPS Code A19.1.1 have not been done, or the certificate has not been endorsed as described in A19.1.1.3 and/or 19.3.7.1
  • a different company takes over the operation of the ship
  • the ship tansfers to a different flag