Change to existing requirements: Simplified SMS requirements for smaller, less complex DCVs.
Applies to: Eligible Class 2, 3 and 4 vessels. Check if your vessel is eligible.
Effective from: 1 June 2025. You need to comply with existing requirements until then. 

We’ve simplified safety management system (SMS) requirements for smaller, less complex DCVs and operations to:

• uphold or improve safety outcomes
• align better with operational needs
• reduce administrative burden.   

Note: If you are eligible for simplified SMS and you already have a full SMS, you can choose to change to simplified SMS or keep your full SMS.  

Key changes for eligible vessels

• If the owner is also the designated person, a designated person responsibility statement is no longer required in the vessel’s SMS.  
• If the owner is also the master, a master’s responsibility and authority statement is no longer required in the vessel’s SMS.  
• The risk assessment no longer needs to identify the key daily tasks performed by the master and crew.
• The mandatory procedures for vessel operations have been reduced.  
• Owners are no longer required to identify an assembly station in the emergency plan.
• The mandatory details in the vessel’s crew list have been reduced.   

Q & A

• Why is the option for a simplified SMS limited to vessels less than 7.5m? Why have vessels slightly larger than 7.5m not been considered?
• I have a vessel that is eligible for a simplified SMS and have an SMS in place that covers the requirements in the current MO504. Will I need to transition to a simplified SMS?
• Do the changes apply to vessels that don’t require a certificate of operation?
• As an operator of a vessel that is already in operation and that meets the eligibility criteria to have a simplified SMS, can I start using the simplified requirements now?

Next: Check if your vessel is eligible