What is Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM)

Inventory of Hazardous Materials, commonly referred to as IHM, is a concept that significantly benefits ship owners in their maintenance and management of hazardous materials; the idea includes detailing out the quantities, types, and locations of hazardous materials that are onboard the vessels. To comply with the European Union Ship Recycling Regulation guideline and the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, ship management personnel must report on a comprehensive and accurate inventory of hazardous materials. Given the deadline for this reporting responsibility, you must explore what this will mean for you. 

How Can You Ensure You Are Complying with IHM? 

3 Steps on Optimum IHM Compliance

1. Prepare for the Deadline of the IHM Compliance 

IHM compliance is an initially daunting and time-consuming process that can take anywhere up to 3 months. The EU SRR was adopted about seven years ago, and the Covid-19 pandemic imposed an unexpected 6-month delay in the workflows. However, the end of 2020 brought the novel regulation that any ship 500 GT and over, irrespective of the flagship, will require the IHM certification onboard on a European Union port and anchorage. This also applies to vessels that do not have the EU flag, as they also require certification in compliance with the HKC IHM regulations. 

The Inventory of Hazardous Material includes three domains: 

• Hazardous materials that are a part of the ship structure and equipment

• Waste that is operationally generated

• Stores

1. Gaining IHM Compliance 

Meeting IHM requirements may be a demanding process for shipowners seeking a seamless and efficient way to meet these regulations. That is why cloud-based ship management solutions like Navatom can help you manage the process and optimize the operators. Our comprehensive capability set allows for smart integrations and software modules to thoroughly simplify the IHM requirement processes. 

With Navatom, you can explore IHM compliance features that can help you keep track of hazardous materials on board, produce IHM reports in the necessary formats, identify hazard types and quantities, assist in inventory management, allow for automatic updates in maintenance, and develop periodic audits. 

1. Maintaining Inventory Hazardous Material Compliance 

 Anyone in the ship management industry needs to provide optimum compliance with IHM requirements through proper documentation; this documentation will be necessary for the operational lifetime of the ship. This will also help diminish the vessel's potential risk and liability issues concerning crew and asset management. 

Discover Navatom's IHM compliance capacity and tools for ensuring optimum compliance. Record the data, gain insights, manage complexities, generate reports! Navatom can help you avoid any compliance challenges that come with the maritime industry.