In the 16 months since the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) Common Marine Inspection (CMID) report database went live online and the associated publication of the e-CMID report format, in November 2009, 1071 individuals in 648 organisations have registered on the database; and 397 vessels have been added. The IMCA secretariat is constantly monitoring the system and working on methods to encourage and assist in the use of completed CMID online inspection reports – including a series of workshops, with three more planned to take place during OTC 2011 in Houston. One other recent innovation has been the processing of paper versions of reports, to upload to the database for approval by the vessel owner or operator.

“We know how busy everyone is, and having to transfer a paper version to the online version can be a task that stays near the bottom of an action list for far too long,” says Hugh Williams, IMCA’s Chief Executive. “So we are running a free service to help vessel owners and operators who now merely have to register nominal details of their vessel on the database, and then send us PDF or Word version of the inspection report. These must use version 7 and be completed in their entirety within the past 15 months, any older and the report will be flagged as expired when uploaded to the database. We have now received around 40 paper reports, which significantly expands the number of completed inspection reports on the free-to-use system, which is available to IMCA members and non-members alike.

"The original CMID was developed over a decade ago because vessels were subjected to repeat inspections, each with a slightly different format, because there was no acceptance of other clients' inspection results, and no common approach available," adds Hugh Williams. "The CMID proved invaluable for vessel clients, owners/operators and inspectors alike. We launched e-CMID, along with the online CMID database as a natural and logical progression to ensure the document's continued usefulness.”

Tags: International Marine Contractors Association