RightShip Deep Dive | Advancing Vessel Safety: An Update to RISQ 3.2 and RightShip Inspections

RightShip Inspections continue to play a central role in supporting dry bulk maritime safety — helping industry stakeholders strengthen standards, increase transparency, and build safer operational outcomes across global fleets. As the sector evolves, so too do the tools and frameworks designed to support shipowners, managers, and crew in navigating emerging risks.

On 26 November 2025, RightShip hosted a Deep Dive webinar exploring the latest updates to the RightShip’s Inspection Ship Questionnaire (RISQ), recent inspection trends, and the growing role of hybrid inspection. The session also provided an update on upcoming Age Trigger phases and what these developments may mean for vessel managers.

Rising Inspection Activity and Emerging Trends

RightShip’s global inspection programme continues to scale, with nearly 5,000 inspections conducted across more than 100 countries and 800 ports in 2025. The breadth of this activity provides a rich dataset that highlights evolving operational patterns and the areas where risk most commonly emerges.

Building on these trends, the data shows a continued concentration of findings in areas that have a direct impact on crew safety and vessel reliability. High-risk items such as enclosed space entry procedures, lifesaving and firefighting equipment, hatch cover condition, machinery space readiness, and pilot ladder safety remain among the most frequently observed issues during inspections. These patterns reflect operational areas where heightened vigilance and consistent crew familiarity can significantly strengthen safety outcomes.

Alongside this, the average inspection duration and the growing adoption of hybrid inspections provide encouraging signs of greater preparedness among vessels. Hybrid inspections — which reduce onboard time by allowing documentation to be reviewed in advance — are increasingly being used by managers looking to streamline the process and minimise operational disruption. More than 860 hybrid inspections were conducted across 261 DOCs, demonstrating strong uptake among managers.

The reduction in average findings per inspection also suggests that guidance is being more widely adopted onboard, contributing to gradual improvements in safety performance across the fleet.

RISQ 3.2: Built With Industry, Refined Through Feedback

The RightShip Inspection Ship Questionnaire (RISQ) provides a consistent, transparent framework for assessing a vessel’s operational readiness, safety practices, and compliance. It supports owners, managers, and inspectors with a shared set of expectations aimed at strengthening safety outcomes across the dry bulk sector.

RISQ 3.2 marks the latest evolution of this guidance. Developed through extensive industry engagement, this version incorporates insights from 22 maritime associations and more than 240 unique inputs gathered from owners, managers, inspectors, and technical experts across the sector. This feedback was not simply collected — it was acted upon, shaping the refinements included in this update.

In total, more than 150 adjustments were made throughout the questionnaire, including the consolidation or removal of 30 questions. Together, these changes help reduce overall inspection time by approximately 2 hours, while enhancing clarity, consistency, and usability across the framework.

RISQ 3.2 introduces a wide range of updates across the questionnaire, reflecting operational learnings, regulatory developments, and the industry feedback received throughout the review process. While the core structure of RISQ remains familiar, several sections have been clarified, expanded, or streamlined to better support both shipboard teams and inspectors during the assessment.

Across the framework, updates include clearer definitions, refined guidance, and more practical expectations around training, navigation, ISM processes, machinery space operations, pollution prevention, cargo management, and mooring practices. Many of these refinements address areas where operators sought greater consistency or where recurring inspection findings indicated the need for clearer requirements.

These updates also help improve inspection flow — ensuring questions are easier to understand, better aligned with real-world operations, and supported by more precise criteria. This contributes to more consistent assessments, reducing interpretation differences and strengthening overall transparency across the inspection process.

The webinar provided an in-depth explanation of the updates introduced in each section and how they aim to support safer, more efficient vessel operations. For a full walkthrough of the changes, you can watch the session from 11:26 onward.

Update on Age Trigger Changes

RightShip also provided an update on the next phases of the Inspection Age Trigger, which continues to be rolled out in a staged approach to support vessel operators with ample time and predictability for planning. The phased implementation helps ensure inspections can be scheduled efficiently and without operational disruption, while maintaining alignment with evolving safety expectations for older vessels.

A key change announced in the webinar is the move to a simplified, consolidated timeline for the remaining Age Trigger phases. Both the vetting criteria and the Safety Score will now align to a single implementation date at each stage of the rollout.

This decision reflects the strong performance of Phase 1. With a significantly expanded pool of accredited inspectors and an implementation window that effectively managed demand, inspections progressed smoothly and without delays. The upcoming phases also involve fewer vessels, making a streamlined timeline both practical and efficient for the industry.

Under the updated plan:

• From 1 April 2026
  An acceptable RightShip inspection will be required for vessels 12 years and older.

• From 1 July 2026
  This requirement will extend to vessels 11 years and older.

• From 1 January 2027
  Vessels 10 years and older will also be included.

This unified, phased approach provides clearer visibility for operational planning, allowing vessel operators to schedule inspections in advance with confidence and minimal disruption.  

Hybrid Inspections: Improving Efficiency and Reducing Time Onboard

We recognise that inspections, while essential for safety and compliance, place a significant burden on the crew. Reducing onboard inspection time therefore remains a key priority, and the hybrid inspection model plays an important role in supporting that goal.

By allowing managers to submit specific documentation in advance, hybrid inspections reduce the amount of time inspectors need to spend onboard clarifying records or reviewing paperwork. With much of the groundwork completed ahead of time, the onboard assessment can focus on verification, checks, and operational readiness — resulting in a more streamlined experience for crew.

Across 2025, hybrid inspections accounted for a growing share of total activity, reflecting increasing adoption among operators seeking to minimise operational disruption. On average, hybrid inspections required 11.5 hours onboard, compared with 14.1 hours for standard inspections — a meaningful reduction that benefits both shipboard teams and inspectors.

This process is supported by the Document Management Centre, which allows managers to prepare and upload required documentation prior to inspection. Of the 86 documents associated with an inspection:

• 63 documents can be reused across multiple inspections 

• 23 documents need to be submitted for each new inspection

A key benefit is that the 63 reusable documents can be uploaded at any time — even months ahead of a RightShip Inspection. This significantly reduces the administrative effort at the point of booking, as the system will simply pre-populate these items, leaving only a maximum of 23 documents to be submitted closer to the inspection date. This process improvement aims to reduce the need for prolonged clarification onboard and improving the overall flow of the inspection.

For operators seeking even greater efficiency, dual inspections — where two inspectors work simultaneously — can further reduce onboard time to approximately 6–7 hours, depending on vessel readiness.

Together, these approaches support a more efficient inspection process designed to minimise disruption while maintaining the depth and integrity of the RISQ framework.

Continuous Improvement Through Collaboration

The updates to RISQ 3.2, the streamlined Age Trigger timeline, and the continued expansion of hybrid inspection workflows all reflect RightShip’s ongoing commitment to working collaboratively with the maritime industry. Each enhancement is shaped by real operational feedback, practical challenges voiced by shipowners and managers, and a shared desire to strengthen safety outcomes across the global fleet.

As the operating environment continues to evolve, RightShip will keep refining its tools and processes to ensure they remain transparent, predictable, and aligned with industry needs. This includes ongoing engagement with operators, inspectors, and associations, as well as continued investment in platforms and workflows that reduce administrative burden and support more efficient inspections.

For those who would like to explore these updates in more detail, the full DeepDive session is available to watch on demand. Should you wish to download the slides, you may do so here.