RightShip Deep Dive | RightShip Safety Score: PSC Deficiency Severity and Model Improvements

Port State Control (PSC) performance plays a critical role in how vessels are assessed for safety and risk. While counting the number of deficiencies provides a consistent benchmark, it doesn’t capture the varying levels of severity—limiting the depth and fairness of vessel assessments.

On 20 August 2025, RightShip is introducing a major update to its Safety Score that changes this: deficiencies will now be weighted by their severity, classified using a methodology developed by experienced RightShip experts.

What is RightShip’s Safety Score?

Launched in 2021, the Safety Score provides a comprehensive, data-driven assessment of vessel safety performance, replacing the older star rating model.

Its goal is simple:

• Improve Transparency
• Improve Clarity
• Improve Accuracy

The Safety Score is made up of several sub-scores, each reflecting a different aspect of vessel performance—such as incidents, Port State Control (PSC) outcomes, class performance, and flag performance.

One of these key sub-scores relates to PSC deficiencies, which, up until now, was based on counting the total number of deficiencies identified during inspections, benchmarked against the average for that region (Port, Country or MoU).

While this approach offered a consistent and objective measure, it did not fully capture the context or relative importance of individual deficiencies. The latest update enhances this by incorporating severity levels, providing a more balanced and meaningful view of vessel safety performance.

Key Updates That Improve Risk Accuracy and Transparency

Expert-Led Classification Process

Instead of treating every deficiency equally, RightShip has developed a tiered severity framework—high, medium, or low—based on a thorough review of more than 2,000 unique PSC deficiencies across different defect categories.

The nature and impact of each deficiency will directly influence its weighting—recognising that a critical equipment fault carries different implications than a minor clerical oversight.

Key changes include:

• Risk-based scoring: Deficiencies are now classified by severity, ensuring Safety Scores reflect their actual safety impact.
• Exclusion of non-relevant items: Certain deficiencies—such as those deemed invalid or already managed with Flag or Class authorities—will no longer impact the Safety Score, ensuring a more balanced assessment.
• AI-assisted consistency: A trained model helps apply the severity framework at scale, supporting vetting superintendents with faster, more consistent assessments.

This process was led by:

• Master mariners with extensive Port State Control (PSC) experience,
• Chief engineers who contributed technical expertise, and
• A consensus-based review approach, ensuring balanced and consistent classifications.

Malcolm Collins, Acting Vetting Superintendent and former AMSA surveyor, described the process as:

“Every classification (approx. 2000 times) was debated until we reached unanimous agreement.”

The outcome was a rigorously defined severity framework—ensuring consistency and clarity in how each issue is assessed.

Real-World Examples of Severity Classification

To bring this to life, consider two vessels inspected in the same port, each with two deficiencies:

• Vessel A: Lifesaving appliance defects and firefighting system faults (high severity).
• Vessel B: Minor paperwork errors and a small navigational equipment issue (low severity).

Under the old model, both vessels would have been scored the same.

Under the new model, their Safety Scores reflect the actual risk posed by each deficiency. Severity categories include:

• High Severity:
  Deficiencies or Findings that pose a clear danger to the ship or persons on board or present an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment if it were allowed to proceed to sea unrectified.
• Medium Severity:
  Deficiencies or Findings that fall between High Severity and Low Severity – they do not pose an immediate danger to the ship or persons on board nor present an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment if it were allowed to proceed to sea unrectified, and nor are they considered minor issues or administrative matters.
• Low Severity:
  Deficiencies or Findings that are minor issues or administrative matters. They pose minimal or no danger to the ship or persons on board nor present an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment.
  

Additionally, deficiencies deemed invalid or already managed with Flag or Class authorities are excluded from the Safety Score, ensuring vessels aren’t unfairly penalised for non-relevant findings.

Why does this matter and what does it mean for your Safety Score?

This change makes Safety Scores more accurate, fair, and transparent:

• Fairer assessments: Vessels are no longer penalised equally for vastly different types of deficiencies.
• Clearer insights: Operators can now understand how individual deficiencies impact their Safety Score.
• Actionable feedback: By knowing the severity of each finding, operators can prioritise critical fixes that meaningfully improve safety outcomes.

As Christopher Saunders, Chief Maritime Officer at RightShip, noted:

“This change recognises the real difference between minor and critical deficiencies — making the Safety Score a more accurate reflection of vessel safety.”

2025 Changes for a Fairer Safety Score Model

Alongside the new severity-based framework, several model enhancements are being introduced to ensure the Safety Score remains balanced, transparent, and fair:

These updates work together with the new PSC severity framework to deliver a model that is fairer, more representative, and easier to understand.

What’s Next?

The updated Safety Score model — incorporating the new severity framework and 2025 enhancements — will go live on 20 August 2025. From this date forward, all new Port State Control inspections will be assessed using this refined approach, ensuring that scores better reflect the PSC Inspection deficiency severity of each vessel.

Stay Informed

RightShip is committed to continuous improvement of its tools to provide greater transparency, fairness, and actionable insights for the maritime industry.

To explore the full context behind these changes, watch the full webinar recording above.