True or False: Environmental Policy is part of a ship's Safety Management System (SMS)?

• A. False
• B. True
• C. Not sure
• D. It depends

Answer: (A)

The main idea is how responsibilities for safety and the environment are organized in maritime management systems. The Safety Management System (SMS) is built to ensure safe operation and to prevent pollution from ships, with a Safety Policy and procedures focused on safety-related goals and how to achieve them. An Environmental Policy, however, belongs to an Environmental Management System (EMS)—often aligned with ISO 14001—that sets the organization’s commitments to environmental performance, beyond the day‑to‑day safety procedures of the ship’s SMS.

So, while the SMS covers safety and pollution prevention as part of its remit, the explicit Environmental Policy is not a mandatory component of the SMS itself. That’s why the statement is false: the Environmental Policy is typically part of the EMS, not the ship’s SMS. In practice, the two systems can be integrated, but structurally they serve different purposes.