SIRE 2.0 – One year on: OCIMF marks milestone and sets course for the future of vessel inspections

The Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) celebrates the first anniversary of SIRE 2.0, its updated and enhanced Ship Inspection Report Program, recognizing a year since the global implementation of the overhauled tanker inspection program.

Since its launch on 2 September 2024, following a gradual roll-out to industry to replace the paper-based SIRE (VIQ7) program, over 22,000 SIRE 2.0 inspections have been completed worldwide. SIRE 2.0 inspections have been conducted in 2,100 ports by 460 SIRE 2.0 accredited inspectors. With only 0.2 percent of inspections having to use the paper-based contingency in the past 12 months, the adoption of the new program has been a marked success.

“SIRE 2.0 represents one of the most significant evolutions in our industry’s approach to safety assurance,” said Karen Davis, OCIMF Managing Director.

“Its success over the past year is a direct result of meaningful collaboration between members, operators, inspectors and our technical teams. We are proud of what we’ve achieved together and are fully committed to ensuring the program continues to reflect industry’s needs.”

Looking ahead: continuous improvement

OCIMF is committed to building on the strong foundations laid in year one and is now focusing its attention on ensuring the program is further optimized and incorporates emerging industry risks. Planned developments for the year ahead include:

• Leveraging improved data insights to inform OCIMF’s wider approach to safety advocacy and sharing of best practices across industry through its publications, programs and engagement with industry.
• Providing ongoing Inspector training programs to support the delivery of consistently high-quality inspections.
• Integration of data insights with guidance materials to help inspectors, operators and members identify and mitigate risks earlier.
• Ensuring continued and productive engagement with program users to facilitate continuous learning, improvement and best-practice sharing.

With the roll-out of SIRE 2.0 successfully concluded and the program embedded within industry, Capt. Aaron Cooper has concluded his secondment to OCIMF as its Programs Director and has returned to Chevron, his parent company, to take up the position of Senior Manager, Marine Operations Performance and Projects. Dave Cudbertson, formerly Manager, Global Maritime Assurance Downstream & Renewables at Shell and previously a member of the SIRE 2.0 Steering Committee, has begun his secondment to OCIMF by taking on the role of Programs Director. Cudbertson will oversee the work of all OCIMF’s programs, including SIRE 2.0.

“For industry, the adoption of SIRE 2.0 required a significant amount of work and dedication over several years, resulting in the improved inspection regime being embedded within operations. We now move into a new phase of optimization and innovation and aim to ensure the program not only keeps pace with industry change but also anticipates it,” Cudbertson said.

OCIMF extends its thanks to all stakeholders for contributing to the success of SIRE 2.0’s first year. To ensure the program continues to serve industry in the future, OCIMF encourages stakeholders to support it by providing feedback via the SIRE 2.0 Suggestions for Improvement (SFI) portal available to program users.