Cruise Ship Mechanical Inspections

[Doubt It]

Good morning mariners.

 

Is there a government organization or world wide association that leads mechanical inspections of cruise ships?

 

I know that ships must have 5 year inspections (I think for their hull) but what about the mechanical systems in cruise ships?

 

It is a very interesting topic given so many older ships are undergoing renovation.

 

Safety and reliability is so important.

 

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge.

 

 

[Randyk47]

There really isn’t much to share.  Notionally the US Coast Guard has oversight of the mechanical side of ships but it’s unclear, at least to me, exactly how detailed are any inspections they do.   A quick Internet search reveals the Coast Guard inspecting things like  emergency power generation and lifeboats but there’s not much information out there.  One article I found even went as far as to point out there is no one single agency that has overall responsibility for cruise ship safety.   

[chengkp75]

This will be fairly long.  There are three groups of entities that conduct marine inspections:  flag state, port state, and class.

 

Let me start with "Port State", since that is what the previous poster was referring to.  Since the ships are not registered, or "flagged" in the US, the USCG only has "Port State" control over the vessels, meaning that while in that nation's ports, the inspection agency (USCG in the US) can inspect a foreign vessel to ensure that all international conventions are met.  This means the USCG can inspect a vessel to ensure that requirements set forth by the IMO (International Maritime Organization, a UN subsidiary) in various "conventions", such as SOLAS, MARPOL, and ISM are met.  SOLAS covers both the construction of the ship and the condition of its safety equipment, as well as training of the crew.  MARPOL covers marine pollution prevention equipment and training.  ISM is the International Safety Management code, and requires that a shipping company document all of their operational procedures, and follow those procedures, and this can cover virtually every aspect of ship operation and maintenance.  Port State Control primarily focuses on SOLAS and MARPOL inspections.  Port State Control can only inspect and enforce things when the ship is in that country, and can inspect the ship every single time it calls at one of their ports, but this is realistically limited by the agencies budget, and most cruise ships in the US get inspected once or twice a year.  Port State Control can detain a vessel if sufficient deficiencies are noted to consider the ship to be "unseaworthy" (which does not necessarily mean it is in danger of sinking).

 

Then there is "Flag State", or the nation whose flag the ship flies.  Flag state is also required to pass the IMO's conventions as law in that country (enabling legislation), and to enforce it at all times on ship's of its flag.  Flag states are also allowed to pass more stringent regulations on ships flying their flag, as the USCG does for US flag ships (one reason there is only one large US flag cruise ship).  Flag states can inspect ships of their flag whenever they want (based on legislation), and typically issue a "Certificate of Inspection" showing that the ship meets all flag state and international requirements for a period of one to two years.  Flag states commonly defer the actual inspection of ships to the third group, the classification societies, or "class", and rely on the class certificate to issue the flag state certificate.

 

Classification Societies are like insurance underwriters.  Without a "Certificate of Class", ships cannot obtain a "Certificate of Registry" (think your car's title) from the Flag State, a "Certificate of Inspection" from the Flag State, nor any form of hull or P&I (property and indemnity) insurance, and most ports won't let a ship into port without a certificate of class.  Class issues their certificate of class for a period of 5 years, and during each five year period there are many different inspections performed.  Some are annual, some are twice in 5 years, some are every 5 years.  Underwater inspections (dry dockings) are required twice in each 5 year interval, but with ships less than 15 years old, the mid-period inspection may be done in the water with divers and video equipment.  Drydock inspections not only inspect the mechanical equipment below the waterline, but will also take NDT (non-destructive tests) of things like hull plating thicknesses, and weld x-rays throughout the hull.  Typically, all machinery on the ship is covered by a "Continuous Machinery Survey", where during periodic inspections, the class surveyor inspects every piece of equipment onboard (not the hotel equipment like ice makers and galley equipment), both physically (may require tear-down for inspection), operationally, and through maintenance records, and certifies it as being fit for service for the next 5 years.  Part of the ISM code is to incorporate a planned maintenance system on the ship, and this planned maintenance system is based on the equipment manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule (think of your car's maintenance schedule), and industry best practices, and the plan must be approved by the class society as meeting their requirements as well as any IMO requirements.  This planned maintenance plan is used as the basis of ensuring maintenance of equipment via record checking and spot checking by the surveyor.  For instance, a cruise ship's diesel engines are covered by their manufacturer's recommended maintenance to be torn down for complete overhaul every 12,000 hours (about every 2 years).  This is typically done while the ship is in service, and does not affect the ship's operation and most guests don't know it is going on for the 3-4 weeks it takes to complete.  The work is supervised by a service engineer from the manufacturer, who certifies the engine safe for another 12k hours, and documents the work done, usually with photos of parts removed, and parts installed.  Based on the service engineer's report and the ship's maintenance reports for intervals between overhauls, the class surveyor will certify the engine for 5 years with only an operational inspection.

 

So, after all that, the only "world-wide" organization that regulates ship inspections is the IMO, but as a UN agency, it has no ability to enforce its requirements.  Nations that are signatory to the various IMO conventions are required to pass enabling legislation to make the requirements of the IMO convention into law in that country.  So, it then devolves to flag states to control the ships of their nation, and some do this better than others.  Finally, it is the class society and the P&I insurance clubs that really control the quality of ship maintenance, by requiring the ship meet the requirements of the class society, and not allowing sub-standard ship owners into the best (lowest premium) P&I clubs.

[killsport]

46 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

This will be fairly long. 

That was actually quite succinct and extremely informative. I appreciate that you dumbed it down for casual cruisers (such as me) to understand. Thank you!!!

[ABoatNerd]

Wow, what interesting information.

 

Thanks a lot.

 

I often see posts from CC members noting repeated mechanical failures on the same ship.

 

Wonder what incentive the cruise lines have to fix systemic mechanical issues?

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

Wow, what interesting information.

 

Thanks a lot.

 

I often see posts from CC members noting repeated mechanical failures on the same ship.

 

Wonder what incentive the cruise lines have to fix systemic mechanical issues?

A lot of these "repeated" complaints are using generic terms like "propulsion problem", which is like saying that "my car broke down 3 times", and implying that it is a "systemic" issue, when one time was an engine problem, one time was an electrical problem, and one time was brakes.

 

As I said, the class society is a third party that underwrites the mechanical condition of the equipment, and they also audit the ship's ISM planned maintenance program to ensure it is being followed.  Also, the claims against the P&I insurance, which as noted is a mutual insurance, so effectively self-insured, will affect the bottom line, and acts as a stimulant to maintain things as well as possible, or the premiums go up, or you get asked to leave the P&I insurance club and join another at even higher premiums.

[OlsSalt]

7 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

......

I often see posts from CC members noting repeated mechanical failures on the same ship.

 

.....

 

What I see is the same few CC members posting the exact same complaints about a ship over and over again. 

[ABoatNerd]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

 

What I see is the same few CC members posting the exact same complaints about a ship over and over again. 

 

Indeed. That is what consumers should do about all service providers, especially where safety is involved.

 

We just adore the "obedient consumer", love as many of them as our company can get.

 

Fortunately, we are all blessed with much information these days to help prepare making consumer decisions.

 

"Assume nothing, question everything"

 

Hope everyone's seas are smooth.