Collaborative venture offers independent STS assurance

Dr Glykas offered an assessment of market readiness derived from DYNAMARINe’s records. He said 88 STS service providers had been identified globally. In his judgement, only a smaller subset appeared ready to meet an assurance threshold expected in European operations, while the remainder would need to invest to reach that level.

He observed that larger providers were the subject of repeated client‑initiated audits, which imposed cost and administrative load without necessarily improving the quality of information available to decision‑makers. He argued that a common, independent audit reviewed against a stable methodology would address that problem by producing a portable record of competence and performance.

"a common, independent audit reviewed against a stable methodology”

The collaboration was presented as complementary to, rather than overlapping, existing processes. LR would execute the audits using trained personnel. DYNAMARINe would evaluate the findings against its risk records, apply a scored outcome and host the reviewed reports for users. The partners said this division was deliberate. The presence of an auditor with IACS standing was intended to address user expectations regarding independence, while the application of a technical review grounded in long‑running data would, in their view, give the resulting scores practical value for users. Dr Glykas said participating providers would be able to request access to their reports and present evidence of remedial action where reviews identified issues.

On the rationale for the initiative, Dr Glykas said provider self‑assessment alone did not meet user needs where operational risk and reputational exposure were material considerations. He referred to updated guidance for STS and said the collaboration aligned with the direction toward independent verification by combining an established auditor with a specialist technical review.

The arrangement draws on a common programme, rather than uncoordinated visits and reviews, which can consume resources without generating comparable outputs. He said the collaboration sought to provide a disciplined, transparent evidence base for operational decisions.

Dr Glykas reiterated the invitation to STS providers and said the collaboration would maintain a disciplined scope so that outputs retained value for users. He said the focus would remain on safety culture, systems, competence and experience, and that the defining feature of the model was the independent role of LR as auditor, combined with DYNAMARINe’s review and scoring. He reported interest from energy companies and P&I clubs during recent visits and said users had indicated a desire to access data and incident records through the system once the programme was under way.

Riviera’s Tankers 2030 Conference, Singapore will be held 19-20 November 2025. Use this link for more information and to register for the event.