Tanker compliance with IMO 2020: Ship Implementation Plan is a significant indicator and operators can now flag this in RightShip’s Qi system.
Vessel vetting agency RightShip, which recently opened an office in Houston specifically to handle the growth in its tanker operations, will allow shipowners to proactively enter data about their vessels into its Qi vetting system via a short questionnaire to confirm the Ship Implementation Plan (SIP) is in place and to convey the compliance option selected for every vessel in their fleet.
RightShip chief executive Martin Crawford-Brunt said in the company’s newsletter “Our aim is to provide our customers with a high level of service during the transition period and beyond, while also maintaining visibility on incidents, detention and non-compliance.”
RightShip is asking the operators of vessels over 8,000 dwt to confirm their compliant fuel choices and ship implementation plans in a new compliance assessment. Information gathered will be displayed on a per-vessel basis in RightShip’s Qi vetting platform, improving the accessibility of compliance pathway data for owners and charterers and helping the industry to manage new safety risks arising from IMO’s marine fuel sulphur cap.
After 1 January 2020, any serious incidents, detentions or non-compliance related to the regulation will also be highlighted on the platform. This follows the current RightShip practice whereby the vessel’s Risk Rating will be downgraded until the root cause analysis is completed or the manager can prove compliance. Repeat incidents or non-compliance will be flagged during the vetting process.
RightShip users will be able to see the vessel’s method for IMO 2020 compliance as declared by the ISM operator. Vetting customers will have the option to screen this data as part of their vetting criteria. The vessel’s Risk Rating or GHG Rating will not be influenced by the vessel’s IMO 2020 compliance method.
During the vetting process, if the manager has indicated that a vessel does not have a valid method of compliance, the party requesting vetting is informed accordingly of the risk of non-compliance or incidents.
Regardless of the compliance option chosen by the vessel owner, the decision to accept the ship or not ultimately remains with the vetting customer. More explanation of the system will be given by RightShip’s marine standards and compliance manager Marc Forster, who will be speaking on a panel at the Tanker Shipping and Trade Conference
RightShip’s chief executive, Martin Crawford-Brunt said: “Complying with IMO 2020 brings a host of technical and operational risks that all of the industry needs to be aware of. It is therefore vital that all parties – ranging from ship owners, managers and charterers – have a full understanding of how compliance is being managed across a fleet. This temperature check will provide a means for vessel owners and managers to communicate their transition plan and their chosen compliance pathway. RightShip remains impartial to the compliance option selected and we will continue to support industry safety standards.
“This is an excellent opportunity for us to engage with vessel operators and allow them to directly input their own data, which in turn will support a smoother vetting process. This is an important element in our mission to work across the industry and will allow us to share the collective lessons we are learning on the implementation.”
RightShip’s marine standards and compliance manager Marc Forster will be speaking on a panel at Tanker Shipping and Trade Conference in London on Wednesday, 27 November, in London.
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