The short version
- ISM element 6.2 puts qualified, certificated and medically fit crewing on the Company by name.
- Element 4 gives the DPA direct access to the highest level of management and a link to those on board. Access, not liability.
- ISM defines Company as the owner, manager or bareboat charterer who has assumed responsibility for operation, so responsibility follows operational control.
- US commercial fishing vessels are generally outside ISM. 46 CFR part 28 binds vessel categories and names no DPA at all.
- The controlled substance duty never moves: 21 CFR 1301.25 requires the medical officer to be employed by the owner or operator.
Ask who owns crew medical compliance and most fleets answer “the DPA”. It is the wrong answer, and it is wrong in a way that matters when something goes badly. The Designated Person Ashore is a communication channel with guaranteed access. The obligation sits on the Company.
Search this and page one gives you seven generic “what is a DPA” pages from training providers, two Facebook posts and a Scribd upload. Not one of them addresses medical compliance at all.
The ISM Code puts medical fitness on the Company, by name
The Code was made mandatory by the 1994 SOLAS amendments, which introduced a new chapter IX, in force from 1 July 1998[1]. Its definition of Company is broader than “the shipowner”, which is where a lot of the confusion starts.
Paragraph 1.1.2, verbatim
Company means “the owner of the ship or any other organization or person such as the manager, or the bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for operation of the ship from the shipowner”[2]. Responsibility follows operational control, not the name on the title deed.
Then element 6.2 makes the medical point explicit. The Company should ensure that each ship is manned with qualified, certificated and medically fit seafarers in accordance with national and international requirements[2]. Medical fitness is named inside the manning obligation. It is not an annex, not a wellness policy, and not delegated.
What element 4 actually gives the DPA
Element 4 requires every Company, as appropriate, to designate a person or persons ashore having direct access to the highest level of management, to ensure the safe operation of each ship and to provide a link between the Company and those on board[2].
Read what that grants. Access and a link. It does not transfer the manning obligation in 6.2, and element 3.3 makes the direction of the relationship plain: the Company is responsible for ensuring adequate resources and shore-based support are provided to enable the designated person to carry out their functions[2]. The Company resources the DPA, not the reverse.
| ISM element | What it says | Who it binds |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1.2 | Defines Company as owner, manager or bareboat charterer who has assumed responsibility for operation[2] | Sets who “the Company” is before anything else is allocated |
| 3.1 | If the operating entity is other than the owner, the owner must report its full name and details to the Administration[2] | Owner. The chain has to be declared, not assumed |
| 3.2 | Define and document the responsibility, authority and interrelation of all personnel who manage, perform and verify work[2] | Company. This is the hook that makes an undocumented medical chain a finding |
| 3.3 | Ensure adequate resources and shore-based support for the designated person[2] | Company, in favour of the DPA |
| 4 | Designate a person ashore with direct access to the highest level of management, as a link to those on board[2] | DPA gets access and a channel. Not the liability |
| 5 | Master’s responsibility and authority, including overriding authority on safety[2] | Master, at sea, in the moment |
| 6.2 | Manned with qualified, certificated and medically fit seafarers[2] | Company. This is the medical compliance obligation |
The practical reading: a DPA who cannot produce the medical file has a 3.2 problem, and it is the Company’s finding, not theirs. The six documents that file should contain are set out in the six-decision sequence.
And if you are a US fishing operation, there is no DPA at all
ISM reaches ships through SOLAS chapter IX and international voyages[1]. A US commercial fishing vessel is generally outside it, and 46 CFR 28.30 is structured completely differently: it applies “to all United States flag vessels not inspected under this chapter that are commercial fishing, fish processing, or fish tender vessels”[3]. It binds vessel categories, not named officers.
The consequence operators miss
Part 28 has no single accountable role, so responsibility is allocated section by section and you have to read each one to find it. There is no DPA to route a question to, and no element 3.2 forcing anyone to document the chain. Whoever wrote the SMS for an ISM fleet had a structure handed to them. A fishing operator has to build one.
| Duty under 46 CFR part 28 | Who the section actually names |
|---|---|
| Drills, instruction and safety orientation, 28.270 | The master or individual in charge must ensure drills are conducted and instruction given[4] |
| Report of injury, 28.90 | The individual employed notifies the master, individual in charge or other agent of the employer within seven days[5] |
| Stability evaluation, 28.505 | The owner selects a qualified individual and maintains the results[7] |
| Controlled substances, 21 CFR 1301.25 | The owner or operator, because the medical officer must be employed by them[6] |
Three different duty-bearers across four rules, and the drafting is deliberate: 28.505 shows the regulation names an owner when it means one. So the honest answer for a US fishing operation is that nobody is designated, which means somebody has to be, in writing, by you. Start from the six federal obligations.
The one duty that cannot be delegated anywhere
Controlled substances sit outside both structures and refuse to move. 21 CFR 1301.25 requires the medical officer to be a state-licensed physician, DEA-registered, and employed by the owner or operator[6].
No DPA arrangement satisfies employment. No management agreement satisfies it either unless the manager is genuinely the operator and the officer is genuinely their employee. This is the single most common structural failure we see, and it is invisible until an inspection. The alternative route is the master requisition, compared in officer or master requisition, and it carries its own records: recordkeeping, schedule handling, two annual reports, disposal and the inspection checklist.
If ownership or management is changing, the employment link is exactly what breaks. That failure mode is set out in changing flag state.
Write the chain down in six lines
- Name the Company. Owner, manager or bareboat charterer, whoever has assumed responsibility for operation[2]. One line, per vessel.
- Name the DPA and confirm the access is real. Element 4 requires direct access to the highest level of management, which is a test of the org chart, not a title[2].
- Name who holds the medical file. Element 3.2 requires the interrelation to be documented, so an unnamed owner is itself the finding[2].
- Name who signs the chest standard. A document with no signature is a draft, whatever it says. Build it per the stocking guide.
- Name the controlled substance duty-holder and test the employment link against 1301.25[6].
- Name who runs the annual review and put a date on it. For flag-specific intervals see requirements by flag state and the EU categories.
Six lines on one page. Line five is the one that fails audits and line three is the one that fails people, because an unowned file is an unmaintained file.
Consulting writes the chain, MedChest owns the chest, and the controlled substances service takes the line that cannot be delegated.
Common questions
Who is legally responsible for crew medical compliance?
The Company, as the ISM Code defines it. Paragraph 1.1.2 defines Company as “the owner of the ship or any other organization or person such as the manager, or the bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for operation of the ship from the shipowner”[2]. Element 6.2 then puts medically fit crewing on the Company directly. The DPA monitors it. Ask us to map the chain for your fleet.
So what is the DPA actually responsible for?
A link and an escalation path, not the liability. Element 4 requires every Company to designate a person or persons ashore having direct access to the highest level of management, to ensure safe operation and provide a link between the Company and those on board[2]. Access is the point. See the six decisions for where that access matters.
Which ISM element covers medical fitness?
Element 6.2, and it is more specific than most operators realise: the Company should ensure that each ship is manned with qualified, certificated and medically fit seafarers in accordance with national and international requirements[2]. Medical fitness is named in the manning obligation, not buried in a health annex. Our consulting service audits against it.
Does the ISM Code apply to a US commercial fishing vessel?
Generally no. ISM is mandatory through SOLAS chapter IX, which reaches ships on international voyages[1]. A US commercial fishing vessel operates under 46 CFR part 28, which applies to vessel categories and names no DPA at all[3]. See what does apply.
If there is no DPA, who carries it on a fishing vessel?
The duties are distributed by section rather than assigned to one role. Section 28.270 puts drills and instruction on the master or individual in charge[4], 28.90 puts injury notification on the individual[5], and 28.505 names the owner for stability work[7]. Read the 28.210 rules.
Where does the controlled substance duty sit?
On the owner or operator, and it does not move. 21 CFR 1301.25 requires the medical officer to be employed by the owner or operator as well as licensed and DEA-registered[6]. No DPA arrangement satisfies it. See the officer and master requisition comparison.
What should a DPA actually hold in the medical file?
Six things, dated: the applicable-instrument determination, the written chest standard, the certification roster with expiry dates, the inspection record, the escalation route and the controlled substance file. Element 3.2 requires the Company to define and document responsibility, authority and interrelation of all personnel[2], which is the hook for holding all six. An audit checks exactly that.
