A Planned Maintenance System (PMS) for vessels is a software-based system that organises, schedules, tracks, and documents all maintenance activities on a ship or fleet. It ensures that every piece of equipment is serviced at the correct interval, that maintenance history is fully documented, and that the vessel meets the compliance requirements of its class society, flag state, and the ISM Code.
In the maritime industry, PMS is the standard term for what other industries call a CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management System). A maritime PMS includes vessel-specific capabilities — running hours tracking, class survey management, ship-to-shore synchronisation — that generic CMMS platforms do not provide.
The ISM Code, made mandatory under SOLAS Chapter IX, requires every commercial vessel to have a documented maintenance system as part of its Safety Management System. Port state control officers routinely inspect maintenance records, and gaps in documentation are among the most common causes of PSC detentions.
Beyond regulatory compliance, unplanned equipment failures at sea are dangerous and expensive. A main engine breakdown in heavy weather, a fire pump that fails to start during an emergency, or a steering system failure in a confined waterway — these scenarios result from deferred or poorly managed maintenance.
A PMS maintains a complete hierarchy of every piece of equipment on board — from the main engine down to individual sub-components. Each item carries its technical specifications, manufacturer data, and commissioning date, creating a full maintenance history for each asset.
Jobs are triggered by three types of intervals: calendar-based (every 3 or 12 months), running hours-based (every 4,000 or 8,000 hours), and condition-based. Most vessel operators use a combination of all three.
When a maintenance interval falls due, the PMS generates a work order specifying what needs to be done, who is responsible, what spare parts are required, and any safety precautions. On completion, the crew member records what was done, parts consumed, and observations. This creates an auditable, timestamped record.
A PMS tracks all vessel certificates — class, statutory, equipment certificates, and crew endorsements — with automatic expiry alerts.
Shore management sees maintenance status across the entire fleet in real time: overdue jobs, upcoming major service intervals, maintenance cost trends, and compliance KPIs.
Most vessel operators apply a combination of maintenance strategies. Planned (preventive) maintenance follows fixed intervals — the foundation of ISM compliance. Corrective (reactive) maintenance addresses equipment after it fails, acceptable only for non-critical items. Condition-based maintenance uses vibration analysis, oil sampling, and sensor data to trigger maintenance only when indicators show actual degradation.
Class societies — DNV, Lloyd's Register, Bureau Veritas, ClassNK, ABS — accept a properly implemented PMS as the basis for Continuous Machinery Survey (CMS) programmes. Under CMS, machinery surveys are spread across the five-year class cycle based on PMS records, reducing drydock costs significantly. For Norwegian vessel operators, DNV is the most common classification society.
Many Norwegian vessel operators — particularly in fishing, aquaculture, and coastal operations — still manage maintenance through paper records or spreadsheets. The limitations are well known: no automatic reminders, no fleet-wide visibility, and the risk of losing years of maintenance history when a key person leaves.
Premaster is a dedicated PMS for vessels across all segments — fish farming, fisheries, offshore support, passenger ferries, coast guard and SAR, and oil and offshore service. Both crew and shore management work from the same system, with full maintenance history, certificate tracking, and running hours management built in. For Norwegian operators, Premaster supports the requirements of Sjøfartsdirektoratet and DNV class surveys.
Related: Maritime CMMS · ISM Code Compliance Software · Running Hours Based Maintenance · Certificate Management for Vessels
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