Vetting group RightShip has rolled back and staggered trigger dates when it will begin inspecting younger ships, following an industry backlash.
The Singapore-based group had originally said it intended to lower the inspection age from 14 years to 12 years from March 2025, and then for vessels of 10 years and over from March 2026.
Following criticism, this has now been rolled back. The first drop will now be from 14 to 13 years on 1 October next year.
The drop to 12 years will kick in in April 2026, and the drop to 10 years on 1 January 2027 (see diagram below).
More wiggle room has been added for 10-year-old vessels, with vetting starting after a second special survey docking.
RightShip originally announced a lowering of the trigger dates for inspections in recognition that the average fleet age was increasing.
This meant the dry bulk sector needed to act to increase safety levels in line with other vessel types, notably tankers, which have vetting requirements from delivery.
RightShip chief executive Steen Lund said the amendment to the trigger dates had been made following industry consultation after the first announcement in October this year.
Intercargo raised concerns about the age limit reduction for bulker vetting inspection.
“This decision was made without prior consultation with the owners and managers of bulk carriers, the very stakeholders who will be impacted by such changes,” it wrote at the time.
RightShip was urged to reconsider the timeline, especially as the current one has been in place for only two years.
“A delay in applying the new age limit would allow ship operators and seafarers sufficient time to adjust to the evolving requirements, while upholding the high standards of safety and efficiency that are essential to our industry,” Intercargo added.
Lund said that RightShip had listened to these comments, and those from other associations, and taken them on board with this revised timeline.
Teenagers
The primary concern was the 13-year-old vessel, which is a peak age group, given the huge number of deliveries of dry bulk vessels delivered around 2012.
“A number of larger tonnage providers and ship managers were generally concerned whether they had the capacity themselves with the superintendents, the procurement teams to get the spares, or having the competence and capacity for the body of vessels to be supported,” explained Lund.
“So we spaced everything out to give everyone the capacity to do what they need to do.”
Steen said that staggering the inspection kick-in dates helps remove the risk of peaks of inspections then continuing annually after that date as renewal vetting dates fall.
The announcement that when the trigger date falls to 10 years in January 2027, RightShip will seek to vet vessels after the second special survey, not the anniversary of delivery, was particularly welcomed by shipowner groups, said Steen.
The original decision to remove the minimum 8,000-dwt limit remains. This means all general cargo vessels and dry bulk vessels regardless of size can be within the RightShip vetting regime.
RightShip — owned by leading commodity traders and charterers BHP, Rio Tinto and Cargill — has more than 850 subscribers on its vetting platform, of which about 150 are cargo owners and charterers.
