· 6 min read
Ship manager vs ISM manager vs registered owner
What do the registered owner, ship manager, ISM manager, technical manager, operator and charterer do? Learn the differences and who decides on suppliers.
- Ship manager
- ISM manager
- Registered owner
In short
The registered owner holds legal title to the ship. The ship manager or commercial manager runs the ship day to day. The ISM manager is responsible for implementing the ISM Code on board and holds the Document of Compliance (DOC). One company can hold all three roles, or different companies in different countries can hold them.
Most ships are not run by a single company but by several companies with different jobs. The registered owner is the ship’s legal owner. The ship manager or commercial manager runs the ship day to day. The ISM manager is responsible for the safety management system on board. If you sell services to ships, telling these roles apart is the first step to reaching the right people.
Who is the registered owner?
The registered owner is the company shown as owner in the ship’s registration documents, meaning it holds legal title to the vessel. It can be a subsidiary of a shipping group, a bank or a company set up only to own a single ship. Some databases also show the parent company at the top of the group as the “group beneficial owner.”
Equasis defines the registered owner simply as “the owner of the ship,” and a jointly owned ship can list more than one. If the owner’s address contains “C/O” (care of), the address belongs to another company, such as a ship management firm, and correspondence runs through that company.
What do the ship manager and commercial manager do?
According to Equasis, the ship manager is the company that operates the ship on a daily basis. The commercial manager handles the ship’s commercial and financial matters on behalf of the owner or charterer. Equasis shows the two in a single row labeled “Ship manager/Commercial manager.”
The ship manager can be the owner’s own company or an independent ship management company working for several owners. Day-to-day management covers planning port calls, supplies and purchasing, and following up on maintenance and service needs. That is why ship chandlers, ship agents and technical service firms often deal with this company.
Who is the ISM manager?
The ISM Code (International Safety Management Code) is an international standard for the safe management and operation of ships and for pollution prevention. According to IMO, it was adopted in 1993 with resolution A.741(18) and became mandatory on July 1, 1998, through amendments to SOLAS.
The Code defines the “Company” broadly: the owner of the ship, or another organization such as the manager or the bareboat charterer, that has taken over responsibility for operating the ship from the owner and agreed to take on all duties and responsibilities under the Code. The flag state, or an organization it recognizes, issues this company a Document of Compliance (DOC). Each ship receives a Safety Management Certificate (SMC). The company also appoints a designated person ashore who links the ship with the highest level of management.
In Equasis, the ISM Manager is the company named on the SMC and responsible for the effective implementation of the ISM Code on board. The ISM manager may also handle technical management. It can be the same company as the ship manager or a different one, even in another country. For example, a bulk carrier’s ship manager may be in Japan and its ISM manager in the Philippines, while the registered owner’s “C/O” address points to the office of a third management company.
Who are the technical manager, operator and charterer?
- Technical manager: Handles the ship’s technical matters for the owner or operator: maintenance and repairs, surveys, equipment, crewing and safety compliance. This role can sit with the ISM manager.
- Operator: The party that actually employs the ship in its trading program and plans voyages and cargo. It can be the owner, the manager or a company that has chartered the ship.
- Charterer: The company that hires the ship for a specific voyage (voyage charter) or for a period of time (time charter). A bareboat charterer hires the ship without crew and takes over crewing and operation itself, in which case it can be the “Company” under the ISM Code.
The roles side by side
| Role | In short | Main responsibility | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered owner | Legal owner of the ship | Ownership, registration | Registry documents, Equasis |
| Ship manager / commercial manager | Company running the ship day to day | Operations, commercial and financial matters | Equasis “Management detail” |
| ISM manager | Company holding the DOC | Safety management system, ISM compliance | DOC, SMC, Equasis |
| Technical manager | Company handling technical matters | Maintenance, repairs, surveys, equipment | Commercial ship databases |
| Operator | Party employing the ship in its program | Voyage and cargo planning | Commercial ship databases |
| Charterer | Party hiring the ship | Obligations under the charter party | The charter party |
Who decides on suppliers, agents and services?
The exact answer depends on each ship’s management and charter contracts, but there is a general pattern. Widely used time charter forms such as NYPE leave provisions, stores, crew and maintenance with the owner, while bunkers, port charges, pilotage and agency fees are for the charterer’s account. In practice:
| Service | Who usually decides |
|---|---|
| Provisions and ship stores | The ship manager’s purchasing team, based on the master’s requisitions |
| Spare parts, technical service, repairs and dry-docking | Technical management (superintendents and purchasing) |
| Class and flag surveys | Technical management and the ISM manager |
| Bunkers | The charterer under a time charter; otherwise the party operating the ship |
| Port agency | The charterer or the operating party, depending on the charter party |
Treat this table as a starting point, not a rule. When one company holds several roles, the decisions are made in one office. Within a management company, purchasing is usually the first contact for chandlers and stores suppliers, the technical department for technical service firms and the operations team for ship agents.
Why does VesselCall contact the ship manager / commercial manager first?
VesselCall Outreach picks a single recipient company for each approaching vessel, in this order:
- Ship manager / commercial manager: The company that runs the ship day to day, where port calls, supplies and service needs are handled. Your introduction e-mail goes here first.
- ISM manager: The next contact if there is no ship manager record. As the company managing the ship’s safety, it has a direct line to the ship and the technical team.
- Registered owner: If there is no management record at all, the e-mail goes to the ship’s legal owner.
VesselCall looks up the company roles in international ship databases using the vessel’s IMO number. It finds the company’s business e-mail address on its official website and verifies it with an MX check. Your introduction e-mail is translated into the language of the recipient company’s country and sent from your own domain, so replies come straight to you. The same recipient company never receives more than one e-mail within 3 days.
The full process is on the How it works page, and our Equasis guide shows how these roles appear in Equasis. For examples by sector, see the industries page.
