Global provider of ship inspection services Idwal Marine has launched the shipping industry’s first cloud-based online platform to provide instant quotations and deliver reporting for complete vessel condition, pre-purchase and pre-charter inspection services. The online platform www.inspectmyship.com provides 24-hour access to a global network of ISO-certified ship inspectors worldwide and comprehensive vessel condition reports to help banks, shipowners, brokers, charterers and financial organisations assess the condition of shipping assets. 

The UK-based inspection services provider, Idwal Marine (part of the Graig Group), believes that the current low charter rate environment and downward pressure on asset values is driving shipowners, charterers and financial organisations to commission more vessel inspections to accurately assess the value of assets and to analyse and mitigate potential technical risks.

Nick Owens, Director of Idwal Marine, commented: “For our customers, who stake their business interests on the quality and accuracy of a ship inspection survey, it is of paramount importance that we can provide high quality, expertly informed assessments on the condition of their assets. The need for thorough investigation is more important than ever, as we are increasingly witnessing the effects of maintenance decisions where quality has been sacrificed in favour of lower cost for several years now. This puts vessels and those that invest in such vessels at increased risk.”

The free-to-use web platform www.inspectmyship.com is fully optimised for use on mobile and tablet devices and provides instant quotes on vessel condition, pre-purchase and pre-charter inspections 24-hours a day to banks, brokers, shipowners, charterers and financial organisations worldwide. Users can track the progress of each inspection, receive photographic and documentary evidence from the vessel and download full condition reports through the online interface. The platform also provides complex technical analysis in reports that are designed to be easy for Idwal Marine’s customers to decipher and benchmark against a new ‘at-a-glance’ ship grading system.

A representative from the Evaluation Department of prominent shipping bank Nord L/B, which along with its sister-unit, Bremer Landesbank, is a customer of Idwal Marine, commented: “We have a large global shipping portfolio which we manage with critical care and attention and we have appointed Idwal Marine to undertake condition inspections of our vessels in various global locations. Ensuring that we have a very accurate and detailed analysis of each vessel is of significant value to us; but so too is being able to easily manage our portfolio and quickly understand the findings of the inspections. We have always found the Idwal Marine services to be of a high technical standard, prompt and cost effective.”

Nick Owens continued: “Inspections are about examining the minutia for clues; understanding causality and effect of complex technical issues and making critical judgements about the practical implications on assets based on the evidence at hand. We know what is important to both technical and non-technical stakeholders alike and through this online platform we are providing easy to interpret reports, alongside detailed technical evidence and critical counsel to help customers mitigate risk and further understand the assets.”

Idwal Marine works with prominent shipping banks, brokers, shipowners, charterers and financial organisations to provide comprehensive reports on the technical condition of all vessel types through a network of ISO-9001 certified ship inspectors at hundreds of ports worldwide. The company also provides technical risk management services, project consultancy and flag-administration support services.

Idwal Marine is headquartered in Cardiff, Wales, with a fully-staffed presence in Shanghai, China and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Graig Group of companies, an international shipping, ship owning, and shipping-services provider.