The Waterford based Maritime Expert Ireland (MEI), a maritime survey firm working in the major European ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Amsterdam conducted a digital inspection of a combination carrier.

The combination carrier's (a vessel that can be either a bulk-carrier and petroleum tanker) cargo hold had involved using high resolution 3D images gathered by the ship’s crew and uploaded on DNV’s Veracity system.

Safety is always an issue with these types of surveys given the dangers inherent in entering a cargo hold, particularly onboard oil tankers. Working with the shipowner’s crew, Norway’s Klaveness Combination Carriers, MEI were able to eliminate the everyday risks of going into cargo holds to conduct the survey, as well as the current risk of Covid transmission in an industry already sensitive to it’s impact on the global supply chain.

Capt. Johan Voogt commented “Apart from the safety concerns, conducting surveys in this manner allows the vessels and the charterers to save a lot of time and money. Physical surveys can be impacted by weather, port waiting periods, etc. By not having to go aboard all parties have avoided the ocean and land-based transport and the obvious time and emissions savings.”

He further stated, “Having incredibly safety conscious charterers, in this case Vitol, a major global energy and commodities trader and significant charterer of these unique types of combination vessels, is a notable endorsement of a solution that can be adopted by the shipping industry worldwide.”

MEI is a leading maritime survey firm based in the Port of Waterford’s new Belview port buildings at Marine Point. The company carries out a range of specialist surveys for its clients across Europe. It’s team of surveyors are Irish-based but spend 2 weeks on/2 weeks off surveying vessels, predominantly in the ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp. The company has seen rapid growth over the past 24 months expanding it’s survey team and actively recruiting in the Irish market.