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Maritime medical regulation updates

What changed, when it takes effect, and what it means for your fleet. Not a reprint of the circular: each update is read against the four things a vessel has to get right, by a physician who runs those programs.

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Reviewed by Ann Jarris MD, FACEP

Primary sources cited

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News

Medicine Chest

Maritime medical compliance guides

Guide

Controlled substances aboard vessels

AED

About this category

Written for the operator, cited to the rule

What this category covers

Amendments to IMO instruments, MLC 2006, STCW and USCG guidance that touch crew medical care, plus flag-state notices that change what a vessel must carry.

How we read an update

Every change is checked against the primary instrument at IMO, ILO or the USCG NMC before we write about it. If a change does not affect what an operator has to do, we say so instead of manufacturing urgency.

What medical equipment and guides must a ship carry?

Under MLC 2006 Standard A4.1(4)(a), every ship must carry a medicine chest, medical equipment and a medical guide, inspected at regular intervals and at least once every 12 months. Contents are set by the flag state using the WHO International Medical Guide for Ships. Vessels holding controlled substances also need a DEA-registered medical officer under 21 CFR 1301.25.

Sources: MLC 2006 Standard A4.1 and Guideline B4.1.1 (ILO), WHO International Medical Guide for Ships 3rd edition and its Quantification Addendum, 21 CFR 1301.25 (eCFR).

Start here

The guide operators open first

21 CFR 1301.25 explained, for the people who have to comply with it

The whole rule, paragraph by paragraph: who it applies to, the three medical officer conditions, and both annual reports.

All guide articles

Everything in Guide

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Common questions

Answers operators and search engines look for

Four layers: IMO instruments such as SOLAS, the ILO MLC 2006, your flag-state rules and notices, and national law such as US 21 CFR and 46 CFR. Flag state is usually the one that decides the specifics.

In practice they set the operative detail. A notice such as Marshall Islands MN 7-042-1 tells you what that registry expects, within the MLC framework.

At minimum annually, aligned with the 12-month chest inspection and certificate expiries. See all services for what a full review covers.

Ann Jarris MD, MBA, FACEP, a board-certified emergency physician and co-founder of Discovery Health MD. Meet the physicians.

Reading about compliance is not the same as being compliant

Tell us your vessels, flags and routes. A physician reviews your controlled substances, medicine chest, telehealth and Consulting picture and shows you the gaps.

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Controlled Substances

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