Ship Classification is the duty of ship owner of Indonesia flaged ship according with the Transport Minister's Decision which states that the ships is obligated class is the ships with provisions:

Lenght >= 20 m and or
Tonnage >= 100 GT and or
Driving Engine >= 250 PK dan atau

Scope of Ship Classification includes:

Ship Hull, Engine Instalation, Elcetrical Instalation, Anchor Equipment.
Conditioning installation permanently attached and its part of the ship.
Each of equipment and engine that used in ship operation.
Construction system and equipment that specify the ship type.

Before ship can registered in BKI, the the ship have to complete the requirement and techincal regulation in BKI. The fulfillment throught the approval process of technical drawing then futher conducted a survey in field.

For the ship constructed in accordance with the classification rule requirement, the ship natation class will be determined after the overall inspection was finished with the satisfy classification survey result. For ship that has been operated, BKI also implement the periodic survey to ensure that the ship is still eligible the classification requirement. In case of damage that might be affect the classification condition of the periodic survey, then the ship owner and/or the operator are obligated to inform the damage to BKI.

In performing the process of classification, BKI implement the Technical Regulation, include:

Technical Evaluation of design plan and document which is relating with the ship that will be constructed to check the fulfiil of the applicable regulation.
Implement survey and examination of ship construction process at the shipyard by the classification surveyor and also the examination on the production facility that produce the main component of ship, such as steel plate, engine, generator, propeller etc. to ensure that the ship and the component was constructed accordance with the classification regulation;
At the time of completion of the constraction and based on the report of examination during the construction, if all requirements are met, then BKI will issue a classification certificate.
At the time the ship is operating / sailing, ship owners must follow the program both of periodic surveys and outside of the periodic surveys to check the condition of the ship to maintain the compliance with the conditions and requirements to maintain the classification.

Ship that already had the calassification, is obligated to continue implement survey that required to maintain the status classification. The types of the periodic survey are: Class Renewal Survey, Annual Survey, Intermediate Survey and Docking/Bottom Survey. Beside that, survey of propeller shaft, biler, engineering and other spesific survey according with the classification requrement. BKI will issued the survey status and informed to the owner.

Ship classifaication carried based on the understanding that ship is loaded, operated and treade in the right way with the crew that competend and qualified. The ship owner is responsible to guarantee that the ship treade was carried in the right way until the next periodic survey. The ship owner or the representitatives is also obligated to inform the calssification surveyor on the ship, every occurences or condition that affect to the classification status.

If the condition to maintain the classification is not fulfilled, so BKI will suspend or withdrawn the calssification status based on the reference of classification requrement. Ship may be lose the classification status temporary or pemanent. So also, the ship that not carried the periodic survey on the time that appropiate with the classification regulation, then BKI will suspend the cassification ststus.

Classification Surveyor in carrying out the survey include:

Overall survey item check accordance with the list of content that designed accordance with the classification requrement;
Spesific examination for spesific parts;
Witness the process of testing, measurement and trial to ensure the fulfillment of clasification requirement.

If surveyor found the corrotion, structur damage or hull damage, engineering and relating equipment which according the opinion of surveyor will affect the clasification status of the ship, then surveyor will issued the recommendation to overcome the un-appropriate. The recommendation is obliged to carried by the ship owner to make the action to repair on the spesific time period to maintain the classification.

All of ship classification status, form of certifate and survey report that issued by BKI be referenced in the decision-making by the parties involved on the ship operation. The insurance used it to determine the insurance premiums and claims, the cargo owners used to guarantee that their cargos is carried by the qualified ship, the ship owner used to know the status of ship condition and the maintenance and for commercial to market their transport services and the goverment used as law enforcement to give the clearance and licence to sail.