The purpose of the METKU Project (Developing Maritime Safety Culture) is to look at how the ISM Code has influenced the safety culture in the maritime industry. The project strives to find the best practices for shipping companies to improve their operations by implementing and developing their safety management systems. This is an interim report produced in co-operation between workpackage 1 and workpackage 2 of the METKU project. This report presents the results of the interviews carried out in autumn 2008 and spring 2009. In this report, we discuss the results of empiric evaluations concerning the impacts of the ISM Code. In course of the study, we collected experiences and impressions of the ISM Code by interviewing the personnel of Finnish shipping companies, particularly the crews and officers of vessels. In total, 94 representatives of seven Finnish shipping companies were interviewed. The Finnish maritime community considered that the top management is committed to safety management and the application of the ISM Code. The interviewees reported that communication in shipping companies had improved. The interviewees shared a concern concerning the functioning of the continuous improvement process. The reluctance to draw up incident reports indicated that the continuous improvement process is not functioning properly. Many interviewees indicated that incident reporting should be in some way improved or encouraged. The interviewees named several benefits of the application of the ISM Code. These benefits included better co-operation and communication between shore and shipboard personnel, clarified roles and responsibilities of the maritime personnel, improved quality of maritime operations and formal requirements set for the company in safety aspects. The interviewees recognised various defects in the application of the ISM Code. The Code itself was regarded as satisfactory. The interviewees named increasing bureaucracy and a complicated safety management system as major defects in the application of the ISM Code. The interviewees suggested that guidance in its application should be provided and the documentation of the safety management system simplified.