Technical information

For more than 12 years, RightShip’s Dry Bulk Inspections have played an important role in the physical validation of vessel conditions and safety management. This is an essential component used within our desktop vetting process. 

RightShip’s Inspection Questionnaire was updated in 2021 and recognises the industry’s need for a standard for Dry Bulk Inspections, which strengthens the services our Chartering customers rely on, and supports shipowners and managers to operate vessels at best practice safety standards. The expanded Inspection’s questionnaire, the “Rightship Inspection Ship Questionnaire” (RISQ), will be used as the updated reference for the industry in our collaborative drive towards standards beyond compliance. 

RISQ has been expanded from the previous Inspections checklist in terms of its scope and coverage and includes not only regulatory requirements but also industry best practices. This means we will assess additional factors beyond existing safety expectations. These include expanded environmental, crew welfare and regulatory focus.  This is the only dry bulk questionnaire in the industry that covers all these areas.   

To assist the process where port time is limited, two new types of Inspection arrangement will be introduced - the Hybrid and the Dual. Hybrid Inspections allow the vessel managers to upload all the documentation to a microsite for review by the Inspector before he boards, leaving just the physical inspection to be completed. It is expected that this will reduce the onboard time by about 3 hours. Dual Inspections allow the Inspection task to be divided between two inspectors effectively halving the inspection time. 

RightShip is introducing a digital Inspection delivery platform, that will see tablets replace paper checklists during the inspection, to make its use and navigation easier for inspectors. 

The questionnaire digitalisation will enable RightShip to collect more granular data to help shipowner and operators perform analysis to further improve industry practices. 

To embed the new questionnaire, digital tools and ways of working, RightShip is providing a digital training solution to all Dry Bulk Inspectors used by RightShip. This means that RightShip will be training and certifying all RightShip Dry Bulk Vessel Inspectors to ensure all new RISQ Inspections are carried out consistently from the first inspection offered. You can find out more about our Inspector accreditation and certification process below. 

How to use the expanded Inspections Questionnaire  

There will be a transition period to get all vessels inspected using the updated questionnaire and the new tools. Starting in late November, our first group of inspectors will complete their accreditation process. This means that where available, inspections will be carried out using the updated RISQ questionnaire. If no RISQ trained and certified inspector is available, Dry Bulk Inspections will be performed using the current RS Dry Bulk Inspections Questionnaire. We expect it will take around three months to train and certify our global network of Dry Bulk Vessel Inspectors. 

Once all RightShip inspectors have been trained and certified, only RISQ inspections will be offered. We understand that it may take further 12 months to get all vessels inspected with the updated questionnaire. 

What do you need to do today to prepare for this transition period: 

• Shipowners / Managers 

• Refresh your knowledge of the new questionnaire, which you can download here, in preparation of your next dry bulk inspection 
• The process to request an inspection has changed – please read through this walk-through guide to help you with the new process 

• Charterers 

• No action to take and no cost for you but the more comprehensive results will be included in the vetting process as RISQ questionnaire gets rolled out