Verifavia wins IHM maintenance deal covering 350 BSM ships

Emissions verification company Verifavia Shipping has secured a contract to provide Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) maintenance services for around 350 vessels in the Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) fleet.

This, along with several other contracts, brings Verifavia Shipping’s total IHM Maintenance fleet to almost 1,300 vessels.

This contract follows the launch of Verifavia’s new platform that provides continuous maintenance of IHM reports. Via the online platform, shipowners, superintendents, vessels, port state control (PSC) and classification societies have live access to the IHM maintenance status of every vessel.

From 31 December 2020, the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR) will be extended to cover all EU-flagged ships, as well as ships trading under the flag of a third country, that call at an EU port or anchorage. The regulation restricts or prohibits the use of hazardous materials onboard vessels and requires ships to carry a certified and maintained IHM which specifies the location and quantities of those materials.

Maintenance involves ensuring the IHM is continuously updated with relevant suppliers documents such as Material Declarations (MDs) and Suppliers Documents of Conformity (SDoCs) throughout the ship’s operational life and renewed every five years. It covers all items and equipment that are installed, modernised or replaced.

“As we get closer to 31^st December, it is essential for the industry to be confident that its operations comply with the EU SRR regulation, including the maintenance of IHM. We are seeing increasing demand for IHM maintenance services, particularly in the lead up to the regulation deadline,” Julien Dufour, CEO, Verifavia Shipping, commented.

“The regulations dictate the IHM must be constantly up-to-date and Verifavia Shipping can ensure this is done efficiently and accurately, as well as facilitating the renewal survey required every five years. We are now confident our vessels comply with the regulation, but also that the correct data can easily be accessed in any port around the world, at any time, as required,” Nicholas Rich, Group Technical Manager – Systems at BSM, said.