The Hong Kong Convention entered into force on 26 June 2025, and with it a deadline that every superyacht owner of an existing vessel should have in the calendar. Existing ships of 500 GT and above have until their first renewal survey on or after 26 June 2025 — and in any case no later than 26 June 2030 — to hold the International Certificate on the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (ICIHM). Here is what that actually means and what to do about it now rather than later.

What the deadline is

Two dates work together:

So the practical deadline for any given existing yacht is whichever comes first — its next renewal survey in the normal class cycle, or mid-2030. For many vessels, the next scheduled renewal survey arrives well before 2030, which means the real deadline is sooner than the headline date suggests.

This sits alongside the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, which has already applied to EU-flagged vessels (and non-EU vessels calling at EU ports) of 500 GT and above since 31 December 2020 — so EU-trading yachts may already be expected to carry an inventory. (See how the two regimes relate.)

Confirm your vessel’s exact date with your flag State administration or class society — they set and verify the survey schedule. This article is general guidance, not a determination for your vessel.

Why “we have until 2030” is the wrong way to think about it

The 2030 backstop sounds comfortable. It usually isn’t, for three reasons:

  1. Your real date is probably your next renewal survey, not 2030. If that falls in, say, 2027, that’s your deadline.
  2. Building the initial inventory takes time — especially on older yachts where builder records are incomplete. It involves document review and a visual/sampling check by a competent person, which has to be scheduled.
  3. The inventory has to be maintained from the moment it exists. Getting certified is the start, not the finish — Part I becomes a living document you keep current at every refit thereafter.

Owners who treat 2030 as the trigger to start often find the runway shorter than expected once survey scheduling and inventory development are factored in.

What to do now

A sensible sequence, regardless of where your vessel sits:

  1. Confirm scope and your real deadline. Check gross tonnage, flag, and trading pattern, and ask your class society when your next renewal survey falls. (Our applicability checker is a quick first pass.)
  2. Establish the inventory. If you don’t have a current IHM, start the initial development now — particularly if the vessel is older.
  3. Stand up the maintenance process. Assign a Designated Person, and put a system in place to capture material changes and collect MD/SDoC documentation as work happens.
  4. Track the dates. Certificate validity and the next survey date are the two things most likely to cause problems — keep them visible.

None of this is dramatic. It’s a scheduling-and-records exercise that rewards starting early and punishes leaving it to the last survey.

For the full picture, see our complete guide to IHM for superyachts, and keep a printable one-page checklist on board.

MANTIS is IHM compliance management software for superyachts. It tracks certificate expiry and survey intervals so deadlines never surprise you, manages Part I/II/III records and MD/SDoC documentation, and generates survey-pack PDFs for class society review. Start free beta →