Ship Sanitation Management Plan - 1st Edition (2026)

This Ship Sanitation Management Folder supports preparation for ship sanitation inspections carried out under the International Health Regulations (IHR), 2005. Under that framework, competent port health authorities may inspect vessels and issue a Ship Sanitation Control Certificate or a Ship Sanitation Control Exemption Certificate.

This Ship Sanitation Management Folder provides a consolidated record-keeping and inspection-support system for health, hygiene, food safety, medical and sanitation standards on board. It is structured around the inspection areas set out in the WHO Handbook for Inspection of Ships and Issuance of Ship Sanitation Certificates in support of the IHR (2005) framework.
Section 1 records the vessel?s Ship Sanitation Certificate history.
Section 2 covers the potable water system, including supply logs, daily testing, microbial analysis, showerhead disinfection and hose sterilisation.
Section 3 addresses food safety and hygiene under MLC 2006, Standard A3.2, covering store and refrigeration inspections, temperature control, provisioning records and cook certification.
Section 4 records waste management.
Section 5 provides records of pest monitoring, treatment and trap inspections, aligned with the WHO Handbook for Inspection of Ships and Issuance of Ship Sanitation Certificates.
Section 6 covers seafarer medical certification under MLC 2006, Standard A1.2, and medical care facilities and records, including crew medical fitness certificates, the medical log, narcotic register, medicine inventory and vaccination records, with reference to the WHO International Medical Guide for Ships, Third Edition.
Section 7 covers recreational water facility management in accordance with the WHO Guide to Ship Sanitation, Chapter 4, including water quality testing, chemical dosing, filter maintenance and incident reporting.

Systematic maintenance of this folder will:
- Assist in evidencing compliance during port health inspections;
- Provide documentary evidence to competent health authorities;
- Maintain a documented audit trail in support of the ship?s SMS and ISM Code documentation, operational control and maintenance requirements.

Witherbys

Witherbys titles are developed using scripts developed by technical experts that are peer reviewed within work groups. Typically, they seek to improve understanding of the regulations, recommendations and guidelines issued by Industry.

Witherbys staff have significant expertise in the fields of navigation and hazardous cargoes as well as in the presentation of complex subjects in a graphic and easy to understand manner.