The words inspectors use,
defined plainly.
The vocabulary of maritime inspection, without the jargon. Written for the office, the crew and anyone new to the regimes.
Inspection regimes and processes
Banning (refusal of access)
Formally a refusal of access order: the Paris MoU bars a ship from every port in the region after repeated detentions, typically three within 36 months for black-listed flags or 24 months for grey-listed flags. The first ban lasts three months; later bans stretch to 12 and then 24 months.
Read the full entryCDI
The Chemical Distribution Institute, which runs an inspection and database scheme for the safety and quality of chemical and gas tankers.
Read the full entryClass survey
A periodic survey by a classification society verifying the ship still meets class rules: annual surveys, an intermediate survey and the five-yearly special survey, the most extensive of the three. Losing class typically invalidates insurance cover and the statutory certificates that depend on it.
Clear grounds
Evidence that convinces a PSC officer the ship, its equipment or its crew does not substantially meet a convention's requirements. Clear grounds are what justify moving from the initial certificate check to a more detailed inspection, so avoiding them is the whole point of preparation.
Company performance
Part of the Paris MoU Ship Risk Profile: the detention and deficiency history of every vessel run by the same ISM company, combined into one rating. A poor company rating raises the inspection priority of all ships in the fleet, not just the one that was detained.
Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC)
An annual themed add-on to normal PSC inspections, usually run from September to November, when every inspection in a region also checks one focus area in depth, such as fire safety or cargo securing. Results are published, and serious findings can still mean detention.
Read the full entryExpanded inspection
A deeper form of PSC inspection that reviews the ship's overall condition area by area rather than following specific grounds. High-risk ships and older tankers, bulk carriers, gas carriers, chemical tankers and passenger ships are eligible, and it takes correspondingly longer than a standard visit.
Flag state inspection
An inspection or survey carried out by, or on behalf of, the country of registry to confirm the ship meets the conventions the flag has ratified. Many flags delegate the work to recognised organisations but keep an annual inspection cycle, typically within a window around the anniversary date.
Initial inspection
The first stage of a PSC visit: the officer checks certificates and documents and walks the ship to judge its overall condition. If everything is in order the inspection can end there; clear grounds move it on to a more detailed inspection.
Internal audit
The company's own audit of its safety management system, required by the ISM Code at intervals of no more than 12 months, both on board and ashore. Findings feed corrective actions, and the audit records are exactly what external ISM auditors and PSC officers ask to see.
ISM audit
An audit verifying that a company and its ships actually operate according to the ISM Code. External audits by the flag state or a recognised organisation lead to the Document of Compliance and the Safety Management Certificate; internal audits keep the system honest between them.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
A regional agreement under which port states coordinate ship inspections, share results and apply a common targeting system. Nine regional MoUs cover most of the world's coastlines, with the Paris and Tokyo MoUs the most influential; the United States runs its own programme instead.
More detailed inspection
The second stage of a PSC visit, triggered when the officer finds clear grounds. It goes beyond certificates into the areas of concern, with operational checks and questions to the crew, and it is where most deficiencies and any detention decision arise.
Port State Control (PSC)
The inspection of foreign ships in a country's ports to verify they meet international conventions such as SOLAS, MARPOL and MLC. Coordinated regionally through Memoranda of Understanding. PSC issues no score; serious deficiencies can lead to detention.
Read the full entryPort State Control Officer (PSCO)
The inspector who carries out Port State Control on behalf of the port's maritime authority. PSCOs work to their MoU's common procedures: they decide whether clear grounds exist, record deficiencies with action codes, and hold the power to detain the ship.
Pre-vetting
A structured self-inspection run against the standard a vessel faces next, before the official inspection, so issues are found while there is still time to fix them.
Priority I and Priority II
Paris MoU selection labels driven by the Ship Risk Profile and the time since the last inspection. A Priority I ship must be inspected because its inspection window is overdue; a Priority II ship may be inspected because its window is open.
RightShip
A maritime risk platform used by charterers and cargo owners, strongest in dry bulk. Its RISQ inspection assesses a vessel's condition and management and feeds a safety score that charterers weigh when fixing cargo.
Ship Risk Profile
Under the Paris MoU, a profile built from vessel type, age, flag performance, the recognised organisation and the company's inspection history. It decides how often a ship is targeted for PSC and how detailed the inspection is.
Read the full entrySIRE 2.0
OCIMF's tanker inspection programme, the report charterers read before loading cargo. Live since 2024, it uses a risk-based questionnaire backed by mandatory photographs and written responses. It issues no letter grade.
Read the full entryTHETIS
The inspection database of the Paris MoU, hosted by EMSA. It records every inspection, deficiency and detention in the region, calculates each ship's risk profile and tells port authorities which ships to target next. Records are permanent; only factual errors can be corrected.
USCG Port State Control
The United States runs Port State Control through the US Coast Guard rather than a regional MoU, with its own targeting matrix and inspection procedures. A detention in a US port follows the ship just as an MoU detention does, and the QUALSHIP 21 programme rewards consistently good performers.
Vetting
The due diligence a charterer or terminal runs before trusting a vessel with cargo, drawing on regimes such as SIRE 2.0, RightShip and CDI alongside the charterer's own checks.
Read the full entryWhite, grey and black lists
The Paris MoU's annual ranking of flag states by detention performance over the previous three years. White is good, grey middling, black poor. A ship's flag list position feeds its risk profile, so a black-listed flag alone means more frequent inspections.
Deficiencies, detention and follow-up
Action codes
The numbered codes a PSC officer attaches to each deficiency to say what must happen next: code 17, for example, means rectify before departure, and code 30 marks grounds for detention. The codes, not the deficiency count alone, tell you how serious an inspection really was.
Close-out
The point at which a deficiency or finding is formally resolved: the fix is done, the evidence is submitted, and the issuing authority or programme accepts it. Fast, well-documented close-out limits follow-up inspections and shows the management system responds when tested.
Code 17
The Paris MoU action code meaning a deficiency must be rectified before the ship leaves the port. It is the most common serious action short of detention: the master has to satisfy the authority that the fix is complete before departure.
Code 30
The Paris MoU action code marking a detainable deficiency, meaning grounds to hold the ship. A single code 30 finding is enough to trigger a detention, and the deficiency must be rectified and verified before the ship is released.
Corrective action
The fix a company makes in response to a finding, plus the step that prevents it recurring. Inspectors and auditors expect both parts: repairing the item itself and addressing the procedure, maintenance or training gap behind it, all documented with evidence.
Deficiency
A finding recorded during an inspection where the ship does not meet a requirement. Deficiencies range from minor items to grounds for detention.
Detainable deficiency
A deficiency serious enough that the ship should not sail: the crew cannot operate essential equipment, a required certificate is invalid, or a clear hazard to safety, health or the environment exists. Recorded with action code 30, it is what turns an inspection into a detention.
Read the full entryDetention
An order from a Port State Control authority that a ship may not sail until serious deficiencies are rectified. The record is permanent and raises the ship's future inspection exposure.
Read the full entryOff-hire
A charter party clause suspending hire payments while the ship cannot perform its service, for example during a PSC detention or a breakdown. Off-hire is why a detention costs far more than the repair bill: the ship earns nothing while it waits.
Read the full entryRectification
Putting a deficiency right: repairing the equipment, correcting the document or restoring the procedure the inspector flagged. The action code sets the deadline, from before departure to within a set number of days or by the next port, and the fix must be verifiable.
Root cause analysis
Working out why a finding happened, not just what broke: was the maintenance plan wrong, the procedure unclear, the training missing? Vetting programmes such as SIRE 2.0 and TMSA expect operators to show root cause thinking in their responses, not just completed repairs.
Vetting: SIRE 2.0, TMSA and RightShip
Core, rotational and campaign questions
The three kinds of question a SIRE 2.0 questionnaire draws from the question library: core questions appear in every inspection, rotational questions are selected by the algorithm so coverage varies between visits, and campaign questions probe an industry-wide focus topic for a period.
CVIQ
The Compiled Vessel Inspection Questionnaire used by SIRE 2.0. The question set is assembled from the vessel, its history and the operator, so two inspections are rarely identical.
Read the full entryGHG Rating
RightShip's A to G rating of a ship's design efficiency, comparing theoretical carbon emissions against peers of similar size and type. It sits alongside the Safety Score and matters to charterers with emissions commitments; it measures the design, not how the ship is operated.
Hatch cover weathertightness
The ability of cargo hatch covers to keep seawater out of the holds, a classic focus of dry bulk inspections and PSC alike. Perished rubber packing, corroded coamings and blocked drainage channels are among the most common findings, tested by hose or ultrasonic equipment.
Hold inspection
The inspection of a bulk carrier's cargo holds for structural condition and cleanliness: frames, brackets, coatings, bilge wells and hatch coamings. Charterers also require holds cleaned to a defined standard, such as grain clean, before loading; failing either check costs the fixture time and money.
Human factors
SIRE 2.0's biggest change: inspectors assess not only hardware and procedures but how the crew actually performs tasks, and record whether a shortfall traces to equipment, process or people. The aim is understanding why work goes wrong on board, not blaming individuals.
HVPQ
The Harmonised Vessel Particulars Questionnaire, OCIMF's standard dataset of a vessel's technical particulars. Operators keep it current so charterers, vetting departments and inspection programmes all work from the same description of the ship; SIRE 2.0 draws on it when compiling a questionnaire.
Read the full entryInspection age trigger
The vessel age at which RightShip expects a dry bulk ship to hold a recent acceptable inspection: 11 years as of mid 2026, dropping to 10.5 from 20 January 2027. Past the trigger with no valid inspection, the Safety Score falls and chartering options narrow sharply.
Negative observation
A SIRE 2.0 finding: the inspector records that hardware, a process or human performance did not meet the expected standard for a question, with supporting detail. Negative observations shape how charterers read the report, and the operator can respond with comments and evidence before publication.
Observation
In SIRE 2.0, a recorded comment where the evidence does not fully satisfy a question. Operators can respond through OCIMF's channels.
Oil major
Shorthand for the large oil and energy companies whose vetting departments decide which tankers they will charter, including the OCIMF members behind SIRE. Passing oil major vetting is a commercial precondition for most tanker trades, entirely separate from regulatory compliance.
Operator comments
The operator's formal response attached to a SIRE 2.0 report during the 14 days before it publishes to charterers. Well-evidenced comments, with photos and corrective actions, influence how vetting departments read the findings; the window is short, so the evidence needs to exist already.
Read the full entryPerformance Influencing Factors (PIFs)
The conditions that shape how well a person can do a task: fatigue, time pressure, procedure quality, tools, communication. SIRE 2.0 inspectors use PIFs to describe why human performance fell short, shifting reports from individual blame toward the context the operator controls.
Photo repository
The organised photographic record SIRE 2.0 expects: a defined set of vessel photographs, kept current, that inspectors and vetting reviewers use alongside the questionnaire. Many operators refresh the set roughly every six months as part of their pre-vetting routine.
PIQ
The Pre-Inspection Questionnaire a tanker operator submits before a SIRE 2.0 inspection, alongside certificates and photographs. Its answers help the algorithm compile the vessel's question set, so accuracy matters: the inspection is built partly from what the operator declared in advance.
Question library
The full pool of questions OCIMF maintains for SIRE 2.0, from which each vessel's compiled questionnaire is drawn. Because any library question can appear, operators prepare against the whole library rather than a fixed checklist, the same logic as preparing every PSC item.
RISQ
The RightShip Inspection Questionnaire: the structured question set a RightShip inspection is carried out against, covering condition, the management system and crew familiarity.
Read the full entrySafety Score
RightShip's 1 to 5 assessment of a vessel's safety risk, built from inspections, incidents, detentions and management factors. Charterers set their own thresholds, and a score of 2 or below effectively blocks fixtures with the major commodity houses. It is RightShip's measure, not a regulatory one.
Read the full entryShip Inspection Report (SIR)
The output of a SIRE 2.0 inspection: the structured report of responses, observations and photographs held in OCIMF's database. Charterers and terminals read the SIR when vetting a tanker, which is why the operator comment window before publication matters so much.
Terminal vetting
The screening an oil or chemical terminal runs before accepting a ship at its berth, separate from charterer vetting. Terminals check inspection reports, questionnaires and their own compatibility criteria; a terminal rejection can stop a voyage even after the charterer approved the ship.
TMSA
The Tanker Management and Self Assessment programme, OCIMF's framework for a tanker operator's shore-side management. Increasingly linked to SIRE 2.0 outcomes and chartering eligibility.
Read the full entryTMSA elements
The 13 chapters of the TMSA framework, running from management leadership through maintenance, navigation and emergency preparedness to measurement and continual improvement. Operators self-assess each element against staged criteria; charterer vetting teams compare the claimed stages with what SIRE inspections actually find.
Vetting inspector
An accredited inspector who carries out vetting inspections such as SIRE 2.0 or RISQ, commissioned by a programme member. SIRE 2.0 inspectors follow a tablet-based process against the compiled questionnaire and are audited on report quality; they inspect against the standard, not for the ship.
VIQ
The Vessel Inspection Questionnaire, the fixed questionnaire SIRE used before SIRE 2.0 replaced it with the risk-based CVIQ.
Chartering and commercial terms
Charter party
The contract between a shipowner and a charterer setting the terms on which the ship is hired: voyage or time period, hire or freight, laycan, off-hire and more. Inspection outcomes reach it directly, since a detained or unvetted ship cannot perform the service.
Charterer
The company that hires a ship to carry its cargo, on a voyage or time basis. Charterers drive vetting: before fixing a tanker or bulk carrier they check SIRE, RightShip or their own criteria, so inspection standing decides who will hire the ship at all.
Demurrage
The compensation a charterer pays the shipowner when loading or discharging takes longer than the laytime agreed in the charter party, at a daily rate fixed in advance. It is the classic commercial clock on port operations, and disputes turn on documented timelines.
Fixture
The concluded agreement to charter a ship for a voyage or period. Vetting sits directly in the path of a fixture: a tanker without an acceptable SIRE report, or a bulk carrier with a poor Safety Score, loses the business before terms are even negotiated.
Laycan
Short for laydays and cancelling: the window in a charter party within which the ship must be ready to load. Arrive before it opens and the charterer need not start loading; miss the cancelling date and the charterer may walk away from the fixture.
Pool
An arrangement where owners place similar vessels under a single commercial operator that markets them together and shares out the earnings. Pools smooth income across the member fleet, and each vessel's share is set by a points formula reflecting its characteristics and performance.
Pool points
The weighting that sets each vessel's share of a pool's earnings, based on characteristics such as speed, consumption and cargo capacity, and in some pools on performance factors including inspection outcomes. Poor vetting results can translate directly into a smaller share of the revenue.
Read the full entryConventions and codes
BWM Convention
The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, in force since 2017. Ships must manage ballast water to the D-2 discharge standard, normally through an approved treatment system, and carry a ballast water management plan and record book.
ISM Code
The International Safety Management Code, which requires a documented safety management system and tests whether procedures are followed in practice, not just written.
ISPS Code
The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, mandatory under SOLAS since 2004. It requires a ship security plan, a designated ship security officer, security levels and drills. PSC officers check the security records and can test crew familiarity with the ship's procedures.
Load Line Convention
The International Convention on Load Lines, which limits how deeply a ship may be loaded. The load line mark on the hull, the closing appliances behind it and the certificate that ties them together are standing PSC checks; corroded vent and hatch closures are typical related findings.
MARPOL
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships.
MLC
The Maritime Labour Convention, the treaty setting seafarers' working and living conditions.
SOLAS
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, the principal treaty on the safety of merchant ships.
STCW
The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers.
Shipboard documents, systems and equipment
Ballast Water Management Plan
The ship-specific plan required by the BWM Convention describing how the vessel manages ballast water and sediments to meet the discharge standard. It must be approved, on board and matched by an up-to-date ballast water record book; mismatches between plan and records are common findings.
Document of Compliance (DOC)
The ISM certificate issued to the managing company, for each ship type it operates, after an audit of the shore-side management system. It runs on a five-year cycle with annual verification, and without a valid DOC the ships' Safety Management Certificates fall with it.
EPIRB
The Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon: a float-free distress beacon that transmits the ship's identity and position by satellite when activated or submerged. Inspectors check registration details, battery and hydrostatic release expiry dates, and stowage; an expired battery is an easy, avoidable deficiency.
Fire dampers
Closures in ventilation ducts that shut off airflow to starve a fire of oxygen. PSC officers test them because they fail quietly: seized linkages, corroded flaps and missing markings are among the most common fire safety deficiencies, and fire safety is a leading detention category.
Garbage Record Book
The MARPOL Annex V log of garbage discharges, incinerations and disposals ashore, required on ships of 400 GT and above or certified to carry 15 or more persons. Entries must line up with port reception receipts and the garbage management plan; gaps invite deeper inspection.
Hours of rest records
The records showing each seafarer's daily rest against the STCW and MLC minimums, normally at least 10 hours in any 24 and 77 hours in any seven days. Inspectors compare the records with port calls and drills, and entries that look too perfect draw attention.
Immersion suit
An insulated survival suit that protects against cold water, required for every person on board most cargo ships. Inspectors look for the correct number and sizes, accessible stowage, zips that work and in-date pressure tests, and may ask a crew member to don one on the spot.
Life-saving appliances (LSA)
The collective term for lifeboats, liferafts, lifebuoys, lifejackets, immersion suits and their launching gear, governed by SOLAS and the LSA Code. A standing focus of every inspection regime: servicing dates, davit condition and the crew's ability to launch are checked, not just presence on board.
Muster list
The SOLAS-required document assigning every crew member a station and duty for each emergency: fire, abandon ship, man overboard. It must be posted, current and consistent with the crew actually on board; an outdated muster list is a simple and common deficiency.
Oil Record Book
The MARPOL Annex I log of every oil transfer, bilge discharge and sludge disposal in the machinery spaces. It is among the most scrutinised documents on board: entries are cross-checked against tank soundings and equipment, and falsified records carry heavy fines, especially in US ports.
Oily water separator
The machinery that cleans bilge water before overboard discharge, keeping oil content below the MARPOL limit of 15 parts per million. Inspectors test the equipment and its alarm and look for signs of bypassing; the notorious magic pipe prosecutions are about exactly this.
Planned maintenance system
The system, usually software, that schedules and records maintenance for the ship's equipment. Inspectors and vetting officers read it as evidence the safety management system works: overdue jobs, missing records or a system that disagrees with the equipment's visible condition all become findings.
Safety Management Certificate (SMC)
The ship's own ISM certificate, issued for up to five years after an external audit, with an intermediate verification in between. It is only valid while the company holds a Document of Compliance covering that ship type, so PSC officers check the two together.
Safety Management System (SMS)
The documented system of policies, procedures and responsibilities through which a company runs its ships safely, required by the ISM Code. Inspectors test whether the SMS is lived rather than shelved; ISM-related deficiencies are consistently the leading driver of PSC detentions.
Statutory certificates
The certificates a ship must carry under the conventions, such as Safety Construction, Safety Equipment, Load Line and the oil pollution prevention certificate, issued by the flag state or a recognised organisation. Checking them is the first act of any PSC inspection; validity and endorsements must be current.
Survey endorsement
The signed confirmation added to a statutory certificate after each required annual or intermediate survey, showing the certificate remains valid between renewals. A missing endorsement turns an otherwise valid certificate into a deficiency, and it is one of the quickest documentation checks an inspector makes.
Voyage data recorder (VDR)
The ship's black box, recording bridge audio, radar, position and key sensor data, required by SOLAS on most cargo ships and all passenger ships. Inspectors check the annual performance test certificate and that the crew knows how to save the data after an incident.
Bodies, organisations and roles
Classification society
An organisation that sets and verifies technical standards for the construction and condition of ships. Many also act as Recognised Organisations for flag states.
Designated Person Ashore (DPA)
Required by the ISM Code: the shore-side link between the vessel and the company's top management, with direct access to ensure safety and pollution prevention.
Read the full entryFlag state
The country in which a ship is registered, responsible for ensuring it meets international conventions.
HSEQ
Health, Safety, Environment and Quality: the shore-side function that owns the management system, audits, inspection preparation and follow-up. In most fleet operators the HSEQ manager, alongside the DPA, is the person tracking deficiencies, corrective actions and vetting outcomes across the fleet.
IACS
The International Association of Classification Societies, whose dozen or so members class the large majority of the world's tonnage. IACS sets unified requirements its members apply in common, and whether a ship's class society is an IACS member feeds the Paris MoU risk profile.
Master
The captain: the person in command of the ship and legally responsible for its safety, crew and cargo. In every inspection regime the master is the counterpart on board, walks the inspector through the ship, and can contest findings on the spot before a report closes.
OCIMF
The Oil Companies International Marine Forum, the industry body behind the SIRE programme and TMSA.
Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU
Regional Memoranda of Understanding that coordinate Port State Control among member states: the Paris MoU across Europe and the North Atlantic, the Tokyo MoU across the Asia-Pacific.
Recognised Organisation
A classification society authorised by a flag state to carry out statutory surveys and issue certificates on its behalf.
Superintendent
The shore-based manager, usually technical or marine, responsible for a group of ships: budgets, maintenance, dry dockings and inspection readiness. Superintendents visit their vessels regularly, and their visit reports are one of the traditional building blocks of inspection preparation.
Technical manager
The company, or in-house department, responsible for a ship's maintenance, crewing, certificates and compliance, as distinct from its commercial employment. In third-party management the technical manager is usually the ISM company whose performance record follows every ship it runs.
The terms, in one place.
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