Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Foreword
It is important to distinguish between inspection and vetting. Inspections of
vessels are carried out by accredited inspectors who make factual observations
regarding the condition of a ship, certification and documentation, crew management,
etc. Vetting is the process by which all the information, including inspection reports, is
assessed and a decision made regarding the suitability of a ship.
Types of Inspections
SIRE Inspection:
One of the most significant safety initiatives to be introduced by OCIMF, the SIRE Programme
is a unique tanker risk assessment tool of value to charterers, ship operators, terminal
operators and government bodies concerned with ship safety. The primary objectives of
OCIMF are the promotion of safety and prevention of pollution from tankers and at oil
terminals. SIRE Inspections are conducted by individual oil companies, and the reports are
then submitted into the common OCIMF SIRE database. SIRE access is available, at a
nominal cost, to OCIMF members, bulk oil terminal operators, port authorities, canal
authorities, oil, power, industrial or oil trader companies which charter tankers/barges as a
normal part of their business. It is also available, free of charge, to Governmental bodies
which supervise safety and/or pollution prevention in respect of oil tankers/barges (e.g. port
state control authorities, MOUs, etc).
PSC Inspections:
Port State Control (PSC) is the inspection of foreign ships in national ports to verify that the
condition of the ship and its equipment comply with the requirements of international
regulations and that the ship is manned and operated in compliance with these rules. Many of
IMO's most important technical conventions contain provisions for ships to be inspected when
they visit foreign ports to ensure that they meet IMO requirements. These inspections were
originally intended to be a back up to flag State implementation, but experience has shown
that they can be extremely effective, especially if organized on a regional basis (hence the
groupings into regional MoUs).
Type of Inspection
Inspection Conducted by
Normal
Frequency
Planned by Vetting
Department
SIRE Inspection
Oil Companies
Six-monthly
1 month
Terminal Safety
Inspection
Individual Terminals /
Oil
company that operates
the terminal
Individual Port State
Unfixed
No
None
Unfixed
No
None
Port State
Control
Inspection
SIRE Inspections are planned at roughly six monthly intervals. Terminal Safety
Inspection and Port State Control Inspections are not planned.
To limit the workload on ship's staff, no more than one SIRE inspection will take place
at the same time.
As far as practicable SIRE inspections will not be combined with any Statutory Class or
Flag State Inspections.
Having said this, it may in some circumstances occur that a PSC Inspection gets
combined with a SIREInspection.
If there are STRONG reasons for POSTPONING the inspection, then the Safety
Department MUST be pro-actively informed in good time.
(An example could be a serious situation on board where breakdown of equipment etc
may cause an unwanted result in customer inspections.
Another example could be an upcoming dry-docking in which case the inspection could
be postponed till after the docking.)
Ensure that contact details, certification, survey details, cargo & mooring details are
kept updated.
Keep the Safety Department fully aware of the vessels schedule closer to the
Inspection Date.
If the vessel has multiple discharge ports, advise which one would be most suitable in
order to arrange for the vetting inspection.
Circumstances under which a one month notice may not be given prior to a Vetting Inspection
(list not exhaustive)
1.
There are certain oil companies who need to inspect the vessel themselves prior
to accepting the vessel on charter/or at their terminal. In such cases, the request
for inspection comes in very close to the inspection date and it is inflexible to the
extent that there are geographical restrictions for where these inspections may
be carried out.
2.
3.
4.
5.
hour
3 hours
1 hour
2 hours
hour
hour
hour
hour
The inspector who is to carry out the inspection will start to collect impressions from
even before the time he takes his first step onto the gangway and will continue to do so
until he takes the last step off the gangway.
Every human likes to be acknowledged for his job, position and responsibility. It is
recommended that the designated senior officer meet the inspector/auditor at the
gangway if possible. Of course, there may be constraints like other port / terminal
personnel on board the vessel at the time when inspector boards.
In such a case, the duty officer must escort the inspector / auditor to the Masters
office. It is a good idea to be dressed appropriately i.e. wear a clean boiler suit and
safety gear.
If Master and officers are busy then the inspector should be made to feel
COMFORTABLE and explained that somebody can only tend to him once free.
SECURITY (ISPS).
ISPS related checks MUST be carried out at the gangway.
The notice boards at the gangway and within the accommodation give the inspector a
good feeling of the ATTITUDE on board towards safety, etc.
Ensure proper and current policies/notices/news are posted.
SAFETY.
On arrival, the inspector/auditor must be familiarised with the vessels emergency
procedures and signals, e.g. in case of fire.
This information could be on the Visitor Card but must be expressly stated.
Ensure that the inspector/auditor has all the safety equipment required for the
inspection.
If not, offer him the missing equipment.
The Master is requested to inform the Vetting Inspector regarding the cargo hazards
(e.g. quantity of H2S, toxicity or other hazards) and any special measures to be taken
during the vessel round.
The following items are also of VITAL importance in providing an overall impression of the
vessel:
All vessel / crew certification in order
Safety and pollution notices
Evidence of regular checks as per ShipShoreSafetyCheck List.
Scuppers in good condition with safety, fire fighting and spill equipment in good order.
Relevant cargo information available and understanding of same by officers
Navigation: Demonstration of compliance with procedures.
Emergency Equipment condition and operation.
Moorings: In good order and as per OCIMF recommendations.
Accommodation: All doors closed, good hose keeping.
Engine room: good house keeping, procedures for critical equipment.
Electrical or electronic equipment of non-approved type, whether mains or battery
powered,should not be active, switched on or used within gas-hazardous areas. This
includes torches,radios, mobile telephones, radio pagers, calculators, computers,
photographic equipment and any other portable equipment that is electrically powered
but not approved for operation in a gas-hazardous area.
Lighters are NOT allowed on board the vessel. Safety matches are provided in the
designated smoking rooms.
All visitors / auditors / contractors must be advised of this prior to boarding the vessel.
This could be done by placing a board at the bottom of the gangway.
The Inspection should be planned and carried out in a manner which will not conflict
with the safe operation of the ship.
Unless authorised by the OCIMF Inspecting Member and agreed by the vessels
operator, inspections should not take place at night. Inspectors must take into account
statutory requirements relating to hours of rest at all times.
Proper planning at the Opening Meeting will enable the inspection to be carried out
efficiently and with the minimum of disruption to the normal working of the ship.
It should be recognised that the overall objective of the inspection is to provide the
user of a SIRE Report with a factual record of the vessels condition and standard of
operation at the time of the inspection and, in turn, allow an assessment of the risk that
use of the vessel might pose.
It is important that any Observations that the inspector intends to record in the VIQ are
pointed out and discussed on site at the time with the master or the officer assigned to
accompany the inspector.
This ensures that the nature of the Observations is fully understood and can also avoid
extended discussion at the end of the inspection.
With the exception of "familiarity" type questions which by their nature are subjective;
answers, observations and remarks must be based on objective evidence. Objective
evidence is defined as qualitative or quantitative information, records or statements of
fact which is based on observation, measurement or test and which can be verified.
The officer responsible for the inspected area should always escort the
inspector/auditor.
This way it is possible for the responsible officer to answer any questions from the
inspector/auditor on the spot or rectify any deficiencies/observations or nonconformances, should any be noted by the inspector/auditor.
A proactive crew will leave a good impression with the Inspector / Auditor.
If it takes too much time on site to discuss an observation by the inspector, leave it for
the closing meeting.
At all times the most stringent safety procedures should be followed and an entry
permit should be issued by an appropriate ships officer.
The tests and precautions contained in ISGOTT should be observed and an entry into
an enclosed space should not be made without the full knowledge and consent of the
master.
The inspector may request that equipment be run and tested to confirm that it is in
operational order and that officers and crew are familiar with its operation, but it must
be ensured that such requests do not cause delay or interfere with the safety and
normal operation of the vessel.
Rest hours permitting, all key personnel should attend this meeting, especially if
observations have been identified in their respective areas.
Inspector should sit down and discuss observations and comments after the inspection
is completed. The inspector gives the Master a written list of the observations found.
The inspector should be able to provide objective evidence for each observation noted.
General remarks are generally not acceptable.
Unfortunately, there are still some inspectors who do not leave behind an initial report
with the observations due to their company policy.
Masters should politely stress for such a report. If this is not supplied, the Master
should at least record the observations himself and inform the company accordingly.
Each observation should be discussed and where possible, the issue rectified prior to
inspector / auditor leaving the vessel.
If there are reasons to believe that the observations noted are not valid, this must be
stated to the inspector / auditor along with objective evidence. In such a case, the
inspector / auditor should ideally remove the observation from the initial list.
If this is not done, the Master should make his comments on the initial report presented
by the inspector.
It is worth remembering that there is no reason or benefit of going into any unpleasant
discussions / fights with the inspector.
There is a delicate balance and this situation must be handled as per the unique
circumstances.
Remember, the Safety Department was not present on board during the time of
inspection.
The Root Cause and the Corrective Action need to be clearly defined in order to set
the risk level, responsibility and cause of the observation. NEEDLESS TO SAY, safety
department will be forced to mark observations at a higher risk if all the correct
information is not available.
The Operators Comments usually need to be submitted within 14 days after the
inspection.
Ideally, by this time most of the issues must be closed out or be in the process of
closing out.
This gives a very good impression to the Charterers who are vetting a particular
vessel.
Some observations cannot be immediately closed out. It is equally important for vessel
to close out these observations even if at a latter date.
Acceptability of a vessel for business depends on many factors that include (list not
exhaustive):
Appendix A
Documentation Requirements for Each Inspection
The following documents need to be checked and
prepared before the inspection begins.
To facilitate this inspection, we request the Master to have the following documentation readily
available for the inspector:
Planning Summary and record of drills & emergency exercises - dates and
frequencies.
The Cargo Gear Register; Records of the test and thorough examination of lifting
equipment;
The Manager's Operating Instructions;
The Company Drug and Alcohol Policy and implementation documentation
(records of unannounced testing);
Garbage disposal record and Management Plan;
Class approved Ballast water management plans;
Mooring Log Book with records of the testing of mooring winch brakes,
mooring rope / wire manufacturers certificates, Synthetic tails test certificates,
Mandal (or Tonsberg) shackle certificates bow stopper certificate (one certificate per
piece);
Hot Work and Enclosed Space Entry Permits;
The Publications listed in the OCIMF Vessel Particulars Questionnaire.
Records of work and rest hours.
Record of calibration/ service of safety equipment/ monitoring appliances e.g.
gas measuring, UTI, etc
Vapour lock calibration certificates
Documentation verifying that cargo manifolds and associated valves and reducers are
fabricated of steel and that it meets OCIMF requirements
Record of testing alarms and other emergency or critical equipment.
Appendix B
List Of Additional Tests / Checks Carried Out During Inspection
The following documents need to be checked and
prepared before the inspection begins.
1.
The inspector may require checking the condition of the ballast tanks. As this
may require tank entry he will require that the forepeak and one additional ballast
tank are prepared for tank entry on arrival at the inspection port. Please follow
this demand only SUBJECT TO terminal requirements and ensuring the safety of
all on board. Such practice in a busy environment is an unnecessary risk
therefore unsatisfactory.
2.
During the inspection process the inspector might request the following
equipment to be tested / operated (Please follow this demand only SUBJECT TO
terminal requirements and vessels safe operations):
Lifeboat engine
Emergency generator
Emergency fire pump
Emergency steering
Oily water separator
ODME
3.
4.
Disclaimer: The above information is only a guidance as to how to deal with inspections to
achieve the desired results. Not-withstanding any information contained above, the vessel
must always be in compliance with rules and regulations.