What is the difference between class suspended and class withdrawn?

Suspended and withdrawn in one paragraph each

Suspended is a pause. The ship stays on the society's books, but its class is not valid until the problem is fixed. The most common trigger is a periodical survey that was not completed by its due date. Under most class rules, suspension happens automatically when that date passes without an agreed extension.

Withdrawn is an exit. The society has stopped classing the ship. That can be routine, such as a move to another IACS society or a sale for scrap, or it can be the end point of a suspension that was never resolved. A withdrawn ship either has a new class somewhere else, or it has none.

In the IACS Vessels in Class dataset, both are separate statuses next to the three in-class ones (Delivered, Reinstated, Reassigned). The status codes guide covers all five.

Side-by-side comparison

Withdrawn ships outnumber suspended ones by more than eight to one. That is partly because suspension is meant to be short: a suspended ship either gets fixed and becomes Reinstated, or eventually has class withdrawn.

Why class gets suspended or withdrawn: what the data shows

IACS records a reason with many status changes. Across all 60,223 ships in the 30 September 2026 snapshot, these are the reasons attached to the latest change:

One caution: the reason describes the ship's latest status change, so it can sit next to an in-class status. A ship that was suspended for an overdue survey and later reinstated can still show Survey overdue as its reason. Always read status and reason together, along with date_of_latest_status.

Survey overdue is the classic route to suspension. Transfers, scrapping and owner's requests are classic routes to withdrawal. Non-compliance and casualty can lead to either, depending on the society and the facts.

Consequences: insurance, charter parties and port state control

Loss of class matters because so many contracts and regulators assume it. The exact effect depends on the wording of each policy or contract, so treat the points below as typical, not universal.

• Insurance. Hull and machinery and P&I cover usually make maintaining class with an approved society a condition of cover. A suspension or withdrawal can give the insurer grounds to treat cover as suspended or terminated from that date, unless agreed otherwise. See class checks for marine insurance.
• Charter parties. Most charter forms include an owner's warranty that the ship is, and stays, in class with an IACS member. A ship out of class may be off-hire or in breach, and charterers commonly check class before fixing. See charter vetting.
• Statutory certificates. Many flag states authorise class societies to issue statutory certificates on their behalf. When class lapses, those certificates can be affected too, depending on the flag's arrangements.
• Port state control. Inspectors look at certificate validity. A ship whose class or statutory certificates are not valid is a likely candidate for closer inspection or detention.
• Finance and compliance. Loan agreements typically require class to be maintained. Compliance teams often flag a recent withdrawal, especially to a non-IACS society, as a reason to look closer. See sanctions and KYC screening.

The practical point: a suspension is not only a technical event. It can change the commercial status of a ship overnight.

How a ship gets back into class

From suspended to Reinstated. The owner completes whatever caused the suspension, typically the overdue survey or the outstanding condition of class, to the society's satisfaction. The society then reinstates class. In the dataset, 3,381 ships currently show Reinstated. Under most class rules, class is withdrawn if a suspension is left unresolved for too long; the period depends on the society.

From withdrawn to Reassigned. The ship can be assigned class again by the same society, which usually means a survey to confirm the ship meets the rules, often wider in scope than the survey that was missed. In the dataset, 1,382 ships currently show Reassigned.

From withdrawn to another society. If the withdrawal was a transfer, the ship should appear in class with the gaining society, usually as Delivered. Between IACS members this is governed by IACS transfer procedures; see transfer of class explained.

Both Reinstated and Reassigned are in-class statuses. They are not red flags on their own, but the history is worth a question in due diligence, particularly if it repeats.

How to check a ship's status

1. Find the IMO number. It stays with the hull for life, unlike the name or flag.
2. Look it up in the IACS Vessels in Class data. The free lookup on Vessel Class Finder takes one IMO at a time, for example EVER GIVEN, IMO 9811000, which shows ABS and Delivered.
3. Read status, reason_for_status and date_of_latest_status together.
4. For a fleet or a book of ships, query up to 100 IMOs per request through the API and filter for Suspended and Withdrawn.
5. Confirm anything material with the class society itself. The IACS dataset is refreshed weekly and is not a substitute for class certificates or the society's own records.

A ship that does not appear at all may be classed by a non-IACS society, or by no society. That is a separate question and deserves its own check.

Frequently asked questions

Related

• What is a transfer of class and why do ships change classification society?
• How does the ship survey cycle work?
• Why does marine insurance depend on a ship keeping its class?
• IACS class status codes explained
• All articles