Recognized organization (RO)

A recognized organization is a body, in practice almost always a classification society , authorised by a flag Administration to carry out statutory survey and certification work on its behalf. The authorisation is written, it is specific in scope, and it does not transfer the Administration’s responsibility: the flag State remains answerable for the ship under the convention.

MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 5.3.1 is a typical delegation clause. It permits the Administration to entrust surveys to nominated surveyors or recognized organizations, and 5.3.3 requires the organization to ensure corrective action is taken, to notify the Administration, and to notify the port State where the ship is in another Party’s port. Approval of an exhaust gas cleaning system under Regulation 4 sits with the Administration and may be delegated on the same basis, which is a different thing from class type approval.

The full article will cover the RO Code, the authorisation agreement and its scope limits, oversight and auditing of an RO by the flag, the EU recognised organisation regime, and the boundary between statutory and classification work.