What company audits and inspections does Holland America Line undergo?
Answer: Governmental inspections are always supplemented by internal audits and inspections conducted by internal personnel. Our goal is to identify any potential issues ourselves and address these immediately rather than leave it to regulators.
To ensure that happens, we have appointed a Designated Person who operates under the standards established by the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention, commonly referred to as the ISM Code. The Designated Person, together with his/her staff, conducts multi-day, annual inspections of every ship. Furthermore, the Designated Person is given 24/7 direct access to our Chief Executive Officer to ensure that the necessary attention and resources can be brought to bear on any serious problem that might be identified.
In addition to our Designated Person inspections, we maintain an Audit Services Department that conducts its own audits and reviews of our ships. These audits include both total ship and focused audits. The results of those audits are reported both to our Chief Executive Officer as well as to a Committee of our parent company’s Board of Directors that was specifically created to ensure that audit findings are timely and effectively addressed by management.
It is also part of our operating practices that our senior management visits and sails on our ships as much as possible. Our senior management team operates under a "trust but verify" philosophy which means going on the ships and ensuring that our practices meet the requisite standards.
We also maintain a rigorous investigation program in our Seattle office that enables us to review safety incidents that need review, determine the root cause and implement corrective measures.
Finally but maybe most importantly, our onboard management teams, starting with the Captain, conduct regular inspections and self-audits throughout the entire ship. We have monthly safety and environmental self-audits that are performed on all of our ships. Furthermore, every senior officer inspects their area of responsibility on a regular basis. Our people understand to never assume that everything is being done as it should be. They are required to check and re-check.