Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions for SMM Products


Frequently Asked Questions for SMM products
SMM Emergency Response Service Frequently Asked Questions

Why Emergency Response Service is so important even in cases that it is not required by regulations?

In times of crisis, when authorities and all other parties involved ask the owner side to provide corrective actions in order to improve the ship’s condition. This is when the damage stability and damage strength calculations are the only reliable source of information as they are based on naval architectural calculations well accepted by any court or arbitration.

This service is also offered by class societies. What is the main advantage in subscribing in S.A. Malliaroudakis Maritime (UK) Ltd.?

It is correct that major class societies offer Emergency Response Service, the major advantage of subscribing with a company is the more personal service as well as better communication. Furthermore our company being a loading instrument manufacturer for more that two decades has the experience of building very reliable ship models (used for our loading instrument) which is a major factor for successful Emergency Response.

Why ERS is still very important in times of normal ship operations without any incident occurring?

Basically it builds confidence to both shipping company Emergency Response Team and on board. This is achieved through Emergency Response drills. During the drill SMM (UK), Ship Management Emergency Response Team and the captain onboard learn how to better communicate by sending the correct information about the incident in order to achieve the best corrective actions. 

What do you mean by realistic drill scenarios?

At SMM (UK) Ltd. it is our practice to prepare for our clients the drill scenarios based on ships current loading condition. This way the damaged condition can be pre-calculated so that the scenario becomes realistic and therefore more interesting for crew ship management and S.A. Malliaroudakis Maritime (UK) Ltd. The goal of each drill then becomes to try and improve the vessels’ condition in order to be lead to a port of refuge.

How can we organize a drill?

The shipping company can any time initiate a drill exercise between the vessel and SMM ERS Team.

We propose the following way:

About a week before the actual Drill the Company should send to SMM ERS Team the Last Sailing Condition Report and Loading Instrument Print Out and also advise our engineers the kind of incident and the date/time of the proposed Drill.

SMM ERS Team will revert with a Drill Scenario based on the Actual Loading Condition of the vessel with some technical details, such as the initial damage drafts. Our pre-calculated and therefore realistic scenario makes the exercise much more interesting for both the ship and the company participants.

On the scheduled date of the drill the procedure as described in the ERS manual should be followed.


Ship specific approvals since 1986 granted by
Classification Societies