The "Classification and insurer" block on the vessel page shows which society classes the vessel, the state of that class today, who covers the owner's liability (P&I), and how the class has changed over the years. The current class is visible to everyone without signing up; the full class history and the insurer open after free registration.
What the block shows
- Class — the society that holds the class and a coloured label with its state. Under the name are the dates: since when the state applies and when the last or next class renewal is due.
- Class notation — the class symbol and additional notations, when the registry record carries them.
- P&I insurer — the protection and indemnity club and the date cover started.
- Class history — events for each society, newest first: class assigned, renewals, withdrawal or suspension with the reason.
A "not IACS" mark sits next to a society that is not a member of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS).
What the class labels mean
| Label |
Meaning |
| In class |
The class is in force |
| Reinstated |
The class is in force again after a suspension |
| Reassigned |
The class was assigned again after a withdrawal |
| Suspended |
The class is temporarily not in force; the reason is shown next to it — for example, a survey overdue |
| Transferred out |
The previous society withdrew the class because the vessel moved to another IACS society; the new society is not in the registry record yet |
| Moved to non-IACS |
The class moved to a society outside IACS |
| Withdrawn at owner request |
The owner gave up the class |
| Sold for scrap |
The class was withdrawn and the vessel sold for recycling |
| Class withdrawn |
The society itself withdrew the class: a survey overdue, conditions of class not met, a casualty or another reason — shown next to it |
| Status not confirmed |
The registry record gives no class state, or an outdated one; the society and the last renewal date come from the class history |
"Transferred out" means a change of society, not a loss of class: the previous society withdraws the class with the reason "transfer", and the new one assigns its own. Until the new society shows on the page, ask the owner or broker for the current certificate of class.
What a class renewal is
A class renewal survey is the major survey a society carries out every five years to extend the class for the next five. Annual and intermediate surveys between renewals are not part of the history. Class assigned is the date from which a society holds the vessel's class: after build or after a transfer from another society.
When the society changes, the new one continues the previous five-year cycle. The last renewal may therefore have been done by the previous society — its short name then follows in brackets: "last renewal 11 May 2021 (CCS)".
Records from the Germanischer Lloyd years read "Germanischer Lloyd (now DNV)": the society merged with DNV in 2013.
What you see without signing up
| Without an account |
After free registration |
| Society, class state and dates |
The same |
| Class notation |
The same |
| The latest class history record and the count of the rest |
The full class history by society |
| The "P&I insurer" row without the name |
The insurer's name and the date cover started |
On the FREE plan the class history and the insurer are part of the free vessel checks: after the tenth vessel in 30 days the current class stays open, and the history waits until a check frees up.
How to check the class before a deal
- Look at the label: "In class", "Reinstated" and "Reassigned" mean the class is in force.
- Check the next renewal date: if it is close, the vessel will soon go into a major survey.
- Open the class history: frequent moves between societies and leaving IACS are a reason to ask the owner questions.
- Verify the class against a primary source: at the bottom of the vessel page are links to IMO GISIS and Equasis with the IMO number already filled in.
The class state feeds into the condition score: a withdrawn or suspended class lowers it.
Class in the dossier
In the vessel dossier the class with its state label sits in the summary on the first page and in the particulars, and the class history is a section of its own with the same records as the page. The list of ship certificates with validity dates is part of the full inspection report.
See also