Plan, inspect and record
Connect maintenance procedures to applicable rules and company requirements; retain the inspection interval, identified non-conformity, possible cause when known and corrective action.
Move maintenance beyond a calendar list.
Maintenance onboard is more than a date. Some jobs follow the calendar, others running hours, and many whichever threshold comes first. Keeping plans, work orders and equipment history apart increases delay and audit risk.
Faromo links every maintenance task to the relevant equipment, interval, instruction, spare part and owner. Completion updates equipment history, while postponement reasons and approvals remain traceable.
Turn regulatory expectations into daily maintenance records.
The ISM Code does not prescribe a software screen. It requires company procedures for maintaining the ship against applicable requirements, inspections at appropriate intervals, records of non-conformities and corrective action, and measures that support critical-equipment reliability. The model below maps that framework to Faromo’s implemented PMS workflow.[1][2]
Identify critical equipment
Clearly classify equipment and technical systems whose sudden failure could create hazardous situations; plan tests of stand-by arrangements and systems not in continuous use.
Integrate into the routine
Manage inspections and reliability measures as part of the vessel’s operational maintenance routine, not as a separate audit-preparation exercise.
Maintenance-trigger decision table
Each job uses one due-rule model. Faromo evaluates date and counter legs independently; for BOTH rules, the more urgent overdue, due or upcoming state takes precedence.
| Rule | Input data | Due logic | Typical use | Control point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CALENDAR | Last completion date plus a day, week, month or year interval | The defined interval is added to the last completion date to produce the next due date. | Periodic inspection, annual service and time-limited components | An incorrect completion date shifts every following due date. |
RUNNING_HOURS | Last completion counter, service interval and current equipment reading | The job becomes due when the counter reaches its target and overdue once the current reading passes it. | Main engines, generators, pumps and usage-dependent service | If the counter is stale, the running-hour risk is stale too. |
BOTH | Calendar and running-hour data together | Both legs are tracked in parallel; whichever threshold requires action first determines the status. | Critical jobs with both time and usage limits from the maker | One threshold may make the job due even while the other remains distant. |
Faromo also supports threshold-driven CONDITION jobs and EVENT_BASED jobs opened after a defect or event. These are controlled separately from recurring CALENDAR–RUNNING_HOURS–BOTH decisions.
What should an audit-ready maintenance record show?
This operational checklist translates the ISM Code’s recordkeeping and critical-equipment expectations into daily PMS control. Mandatory fields must still be verified against vessel type, flag, class, maker instructions and the company SMS.[1][2]
- Asset Equipment identity and criticality: Vessel, system, equipment and sub-equipment relationship, including critical-equipment classification.
- Plan Job scope and trigger: Work instruction, maker reference, interval type, target date or counter and responsible role.
- Status Last and next due trail: Last completion date/counter, current reading, calculated next due point and overdue status.
- Result Execution and completion evidence: Person completing the work, actual time, readings, notes, consumed spares and relevant file or photo.
- Deviation Non-conformity and corrective action: Finding, possible cause when known, corrective action taken and how closure was verified.
- Decision Postponement reason and approval trail: Technical or operational reason, risk assessment, authorized decision, revised plan and retention of the original due point.
- Reliability Stand-by arrangement and test records: Test plan, result, defect and follow-up action for critical systems not in continuous use.
- History Change and record integrity: Who changed what and when, with prior due points, decisions and completion records remaining traceable.
Faromo keeps these fields in an equipment → maintenance job → work order → result → equipment history chain. This is not a claim of class or flag approval; it is a digital record model that supports implementation of the company SMS.
Scope and core capabilities
Equipment hierarchy
Structure systems, equipment and sub-equipment around the vessel’s real technical layout.
Flexible maintenance intervals
Define calendar, running-hour or whichever-comes-first rules for each task.
Work-order management
Keep instructions, owner, planned date, readings and completion notes in one work order.
Postponement control
Record postponement reason, revised date and authorized approval in an auditable way.
Spare-part linkage
Link required and consumed spares to inventory and procurement workflows.
Maintenance history
View scheduled and corrective maintenance history with files and readings for each asset.
Workflow
- Attach the job to the equipment: An overhaul every 8 000 running hours for the exhaust valve on main engine cylinder 3 — instruction, required spare and owner defined on the same task.
- Two counters run together: The running-hour counter approaches 8 000 while the calendar rule is watched alongside it. Whichever falls first opens the job; you never track the two separately.
- The crew closes it onboard: The chief engineer records the reading, the spare consumed and a photo on the work order. With no connection the entry waits on the device and reaches the office unchanged once there is one.
- The next due point sets itself: Closure writes to the equipment history and the next 8 000 hours count from there. If the job was postponed, the reason and the approval stay on the same chain.
Operational outcomes
- See an overdue job with its place in the equipment tree — which system, which cylinder, on whose desk.
- Open the maintenance history a surveyor asks for from the equipment record, not from a folder hunt.
- Spot a job whose spare is missing before the work order opens, and let the requisition start from there.
- Record a postponement with its reason and approval, so “why was this deferred?” has an answer in the audit.
Product evidence
From calendar and counters to work orders
The maintenance list with each job’s place in the equipment tree, its trigger rule and what is left to run. Calendar and running hours work together — whichever falls first raises the job, and a postponement cannot be recorded without approval.
Frequently asked questions
How does the PMS calculate maintenance due dates?
A task can use calendar, running hours or both. When both apply, the first threshold reached creates the due event.
Where do running hours come from?
Counter readings can be entered onboard and linked from operations and noon reporting to the relevant equipment.
Can maintenance be postponed?
Authorized users can postpone with a reason, revised date and approval. The original due date and decision remain in history.
Does the PMS work offline?
Onboard teams can view tasks and record results without connectivity; records sync in a controlled way when the link returns.
Primary sources
- Resolution A.741(18) adopting the ISM Code — International Maritime Organization
- International Safety Management (ISM) Code — International Maritime Organization
- International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) — International Maritime Organization