IMO Ship and Company Number Scheme

The Scheme assigns IMO Ship Numbers to propelled, sea-going merchant ships of 100 GT and above, with the exception of the following: vessels solely engaged in fishing, ships without mechanical means of propulsion, pleasure yachts, ships engaged on special service (e.g. lightships, SAR vessels), hopper barges, hydrofoils, air cushion vehicles, floating docks and structures classified in a similar manner, ships of war and troopships and wooden ships.

S&P Global has extended the Scheme on a voluntary basis to include some of the above excluded shiptypes, and in particular fishing vessels and commercial yachts that meet solas requirements.

The number is inserted on Ship's Certificates listed in SOLAS regulation I/12. Under SOLAS regulation XI - 1/3, the IMO Ship Number is required to be permanently and visibly marked on the ship. Furthermore, IMO MSC/Circ.1142 and MEPC/Circ.425 refer to the marking of the ship's plans, manuals and other documents with the IMO Ship Identification Number, recommending that the originator of such plans, manuals and other documents ensure that the IMO Ship Number is marked on them prior to submission for approval by an Administration or a recognised organisation acting on its behalf.

In accordance with IMO Circular Letter 1886/Rev.3, IHSF issues IMO Ship Numbers at the confirmed order stage, and shipbuilders/shipowners are encouraged to provide details of all new orders to S&P Global to facilitate the assignment of the LR/IMO Number at the earliest opportunity which, for the majority of ships, becomes the IMO ship identification number on completion.

The IMO Ship Number is assigned to the total or greater portion of the hull enclosing the machinery space which is the determining factor should additional sections be added.

The IMO number is never reassigned to another vessel.

S&P Global issues IMO Ship Numbers free of charge to shipyards, shipowners/operators, administrations and classification societies on submission of a completed IMO number Request Form, which is available from IMO Number Request Form. Replies are normally dispatched within a few working days from receipt of each request. S&P Global reserves the right to refuse to assign an IMO Ship Number until all identification criteria have been supplied and to make a charge for processing significant batch requests of numbers.

S&P Global processes IMO Number receipts by strict rotation and it is recommended that applicants should forward requests at their earliest opportunity. Applications involving more than one ship are accepted on a single ship per form basis only.

IMO Ship Numbers can be obtained from S&P Global products and services. The Equasis free public site is also a reliable source to view the IMO Ship Number (Equasis free public site). This site is supplied with up to date fleet and owner information from the databases of S&P Global.

One number is issued to a company if it undertakes one or both of the following roles:

• "Company" has the same meaning as in SOLAS regulation IX/1 (the DOC Company) and is the organisation on the DOC, SMC or ISPS certificate
• "Registered Owner" is the owner specified on the ships certificate of registry issued by an Administration

The Number stays the same when a company changes its name, or if its ships are transferred to another flag. When companies merge, S&P Global will assign the Number of the larger company to the new amalgamated entity, while the Number of the small entity will be frozen and not re-used. The Number remains unchanged, but unused, in the event a company and/or registered owner sells, or otherwise disposes, of its ship(s) and does not begin operating new ship(s). The number will remain unchanged in the event the company and/or registered owner, after having sold or otherwise disposed of its ships, renews ship management at a future date. S&P Global maintains a history of Companies and Registered Owners of ships on its database.

S&P Global adopts a Company Name-style Guide for recording company Names on its database. This is to ensure that the formats of names are consistent with language and character sets used by its software and the software of organisations to which it supplies data. However, for clarification, S&P Global also records the name-style as supplied by administrations for registered owners whose company registration is in the national jurisdiction of the administration. This name-style is supplied as part of the electronic data exchanges between S&P Global Fairplay and Administrations which support the Scheme, formalised in IMO Circular Letter 2554/Rev.1.

IMO Numbers for companies and registered owners can be obtained from S&P Global products and services or can be viewed on the free website IMO Numbers Request Form. Numbers for new companies, and amendments to existing companies, can also be requested through this site.