Flag State Implementation (FSI) inspection of Indian Flag Ships

Applicable to: All Indian-flagged ships

Effective Date: 3rd September, 2013

Superseded Circulars: MS Notice 22 of 2011, MS Notice 06 of 2011, MS Notice 14 of 2010

Key Changes and Requirements

1. Scheduled Flag State Inspections

All Indian-flagged ships must undergo scheduled Flag State inspections (FSI) at the frequencies specified in the table below:

S.No	Type and Age of Ship	Frequency of FSI
1	Passenger Ship	Every calendar year, after 3 months of Passenger ship Safety Certificate survey, but before 3 months of the date of expiry of the same.

2. Unscheduled Flag State Inspection

Vessels may be inspected by surprise at any time. However, a vessel that has undergone FSI or GI within the last six months will not be inspected again unless there are bonafide complaints about its seaworthiness.

3. General Inspection by ROs

The mandatory annual General Inspection (GI) by Recognized Organizations is dispensed with, except for vessels that fail to undergo the minimum required FSI. Vessels that have satisfactorily undergone PSC inspection under Paris MOU, USCG, or AMSA without any detainable deficiency and with a total number of deficiencies not exceeding five do not need to undergo GI for one year.

II/4 Vessels which have carried out GI as per the MS Notice 22 of 2011 prior to the issuance of this M.S.Notice shall be required to carry out the next FSI and switch over to this regime within twelve months from the date of conduct of such GI.

Important Note

Companies, ROs, and MMDs must upload all inspection reports to the Flag State Computerised Information System (FSCIS) within ten days of completion. Non-compliance may result in non-conformity during DOC audit or subsequent statutory surveys.

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