Every vessel has a significant number of hidden deficiencies waiting to be found.

A PSC inspection that reports no deficiencies doesn’t mean that there none, and even if a number of deficiencies are recorded – it doesn’t mean that they are all that exist.

PSC inspections result in varying outcomes, shipowners often find ships are detained that have been given minimal deficiencies in the past, this is due to hidden deficiencies. Without considering the many variables that PSC inspections are subject to, it is impossible to rely on previous history as a useful metric.

Current inspections are based on, and limited, by checklists that often yield only very small numbers of deficiencies/non-conformities. Until now, there has never been a standard to define how many deficiencies are a ‘healthy’ amount.

Unlike other processes, we use proven PSC competency to find deficiencies, giving shipowners a clear advantage in both future PSC performance and safer operations. Anyone can provide a report with none or minimal deficiencies, the skills required to actually find deficiencies, that are both applicable and referenced, are often not found outside PSC Authorities and have not been commercially available until now.

As a useful KPI for clients and the wider maritime community to use, we have collated data from our inspections to provide a realistic metric. Often clients are surprised how many dormant deficiencies are present, how easy it is to rectify them sustainably once they know what they are, and how lucky they’d been that a dilgent PSCO had not found them yet or that they have caused or escalated an incident.