Question 58 ONC02 - Second Mate/Third Mate Unlimited Tonnage

The Correct Answer is C **Explanation for Option C ("One month"):** Regulations governing maritime safety and documentation, often rooted in international conventions like SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) or specific national laws, typically mandate that critical documentation related to safety checks, inspections, and operational readiness must be retained for a reasonable period. A "Declaration of Inspection" certifies that specific checks or maintenance tasks (e.g., related to life-saving appliances, fire fighting systems, or hull integrity) were performed at a given time. Keeping this record for **one month** ensures that recent inspections are available for review by port state control or company auditors, verifying compliance with safety schedules, without requiring the vessel to archive excessive volumes of daily paperwork indefinitely. **Explanation for Incorrect Options:** * **A) One week:** This period is generally too short for crucial inspection documentation. A one-week retention period would likely mean the document is destroyed before a subsequent port call or internal audit could verify compliance with recent operational requirements. * **B) Two weeks:** Similar to one week, two weeks is often insufficient for comprehensive record keeping, especially since many critical checks might only occur weekly or bi-weekly, and authorities need a window of time to verify compliance retroactively. * **D) Three months:** While some major certificates or records (like Oil Record Books, stability data, or official log books) must be kept for much longer periods (up to the life of the vessel or several years), a standard "Declaration of Inspection" is an operational document. Keeping it for three months is usually an unnecessarily long requirement for daily or periodic inspection records and is not the standard regulatory mandate for this specific type of declaration.