Global Inspections Activity Map January 2023

China - The recent relaxation of restrictions and quarantine in China has made an immediate impact on the Inspections demographic for the month of January which saw 35 of the 189 total (18.5%) conducted there. It is expected that Inspections in Chinese ports will continue to grow as the pre-eminent destination going forward with commensurate reductions in numbers in other countries worldwide.

Planning requirements - Throughout the month we have seen repeated requests for renewal inspections at the very end of current inspection validity, some of which have been unable to be accommodated leaving the vessel without a valid Inspection and a drop in safety Score to 2/5. Owners/Managers are strongly encouraged to start planning at least 2 months in advance of existing inspection expiry and explore all options with the dry inspections team if required. It is Owners/Managers responsibility to ensure a valid inspection is in place where required by RightShip rules if they want the vessel to be considered for recommendation.

Alongside at Discharge ports remains the preference for Inspector attendance. Other vessel status will be considered including post dry-dock/layby, anchorages, and load ports on their merits. RightShip do not attend vessels at Load ports in the Australian Pilbara loading Iron Ore or vessels at exposed roadsteads/anchorages where inspector boarding is deemed to present an unacceptable risk.

Engaging with the Inspector – code of conduct - We reiterate that our Inspectors adhere to the RightShip code of conduct and will uphold the professionalism and integrity while carrying out the inspection. We recognize that good managers operate within similar conduct expectations, it is an important reminder that any attempts to coerce or offer bribes at any point during the inspection will not be tolerated. Please note that RightShip Inspectors will report any cases of attempted coercion or attempts to manipulate Inspection outcomes.

Observations - As an adjunct to this month’s activity report, we would like to share with our readers an insight into some preliminary statistics on the implementation of the RightShip Inspection Ship Questionnaire (RISQ) which became fully active for all Inspections in September 2022.-

-In the five months since the beginning of September over 930 Inspections have been conducted

-The average duration of an Inspection was 14.6 hours

-The average number of Non-conformities per Inspection was 22.6

-The most frequent Non-conformity relates to the requirement for the Master/Chief Officer to have undertaken formal type specific training in the Inspection and Maintenance of hatch Covers

-More than half of the Inspections were conducted at discharge ports in line with our preferred location.

RISQ improvements - Work has commenced on updates and changes to RISQ. Revision 3 is expected to be implemented before the middle of the year. As has been the case since May 2021, a copy of the latest RISQ document can be downloaded free of charge from the RightShip Website.