OCIMF announces expansion to SIRE

OCIMF (Oil Companies International Marine Forum) has announced that a two-year project to enhance and expand the OCIMF Ship Inspection Reporting (SIRE) programme has now come to fruition.

The new system, to develop a barge inspection scheme, will be now be available for use throughout

the world in ports and inland waterways by barges, tugs, vessels carrying road tankers and

packaged cargoes. It will cover all vessels that are used to carry oil, chemical and gas cargoes,

including those carrying road tankers and packaged containers.

The existing SIRE programme has – up until now – predominantly provided inspection reports for

tankers trading internationally. However, there are approximately 20,000 barges worldwide

carrying petroleum, chemicals and liquid gases in ports and inland waterways, in addition to those

shipments carried by tankers trading internationally. The now greatly expanded coverage of SIRE should assist responsible charterers in their continuing goal to improve safety and prevent pollution during the waterborne transport of oil, chemical and gas cargoes.

Jan Kopernicki, Chairman of OCIMF said: “The expansion of SIRE to include barges and packaged

cargoes means that every mode of transportation of petroleum, chemicals and gas products by water

can now be covered. Charterers and government bodies will have an important resource available

to them to assess barge quality with the same assurance as has been achieved for vessels trading

internationally.”

In expanding SIRE to include these additional modes of transport, SIRE will also now allow a greater number of parties to submit and receive reports. In general, this will extend to those companies that charter vessels on a regular basis or receive vessels at their terminals. In addition, SIRE will also now have the capability to receive comments on vessel inspection reports in a number of different languages.

Paul Markides, Director of OCIMF said: “The inclusion of a translating function provides a truly

powerful tool that permits SIRE to deliver comprehensive vessel information regardless of where

the vessel trades, and the language used by the vessel Operator.”