This article was featured in the official IMPA publication - Supply Chain and Sustainability Magazine, Issue 1 2024
With ship owners now required to maintain a clear and concise inventory of onboard materials that present a risk to vessels and crew, digital platforms are looking to streamline the process for buyers and suppliers across the procurement supply chain.
Modern vessels are complex pieces of equipment that, more than ever, are subject to a vast number of regulations to enforce and improve their sustainability and green credentials. With a strong industry focus on ensuring that ships, when being recycled, do not pose any unnecessary risks to human health, safety, and the environment, it is vital that ship owners remain vigilant on the documentation of all types of on-board hazardous material.
Vessels contain a number of hazardous materials within its structure. For example, asbestos is one of the most common hazardous materials found onboard, most notably in engine rooms where it is used to provide thermal insulation and fire resistance. However, prolonged exposure to crews can cause long-term health impacts. Other hazardous materials that can have similar effects include heavy metals, toxic oil and a number of carcinogens that can be exposed to vessel crews and workers at recycling yards.
To mitigate any potential health and environmental impacts, ship owners are required to maintain a detailed list of ship-specific information on hazardous materials present on board, their location, and approximate quantities, known as an Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM). This list is vital in order to minimise risk, potential liabilities and enhance the safety of the vessel, its crew and the environment. A compliant IHM list is also necessary for every vessel to achieve compliance with the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR) and the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.
However, maintaining this inventory requires a great deal of time and resources due to the sheer number of different quantity of products that are delivered and maintained on board.
This problem is compounded when ship owners require specific IHM documentation from individual suppliers every time an item is purchased. Shipping companies have to request this form for each item and suppliers, in turn, must create specific documents for every request. This constant back-and-forth is a sore point for everyone involved in an individual transaction.
Following feedback
In this era of digital platforms that are streamlining shipping operations across the board, ship owners are now turning to technology to smooth out the IHM process and enhance collaboration between buyers and suppliers.
Procureship, the Greek-based e-procurement platform that is utilising automation and machine learning to streamline the procurement process for the maritime sector, has now turned its attention to ensuring its global userbase of ship owners and suppliers can ensure they are compliant with IHM regulations.
“Shipping companies are being told by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) about the need to comply with relevant IHM regulations. This is a major concern for our users, many of whom are responsible for sending and receiving IHM documents on a regular basis. We found that many buyer’s and supplier’s purchasing departments were not ready for such a radical change, so we felt the need to respond accordingly” said Angeliki Papathanasiou, Head of Operations at Procureship.
“Our users needed help with this issue. They had to understand their IHM documentation better and find a simpler way of ensuring they were compliant. To fully grasp the issue, we undertook a major internal research project to fully understand IMO regulations and the complete IHM documentation process. We worked closely with industry experts and classification societies to understand how suppliers need to comply.
“What we discovered is that we already had all of the Purchase Order data in our system for every transaction. We decided the best course of action was to add an IHM documentation feature at the order confirmation stage of the transaction on the Procureship platform, enabling buyers to request the documentation and suppliers to easily upload their own forms into the system or utilise our own newly developed forms,” she added.
Modern solutions
Procureship’s IHM documentation feature has been built to simplify a convoluted process.
Utilising the company’s bespoke and built-in automation technology, suppliers are able to submit both Material Declaration (MD) and Suppliers Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) forms during the Purchase Order confirmation stage of a transaction. Completed forms are automatically registered in the buyer’s dashboard where they can be reviewed and approved. All approved IHM forms can then automatically be sent to the relevant vessel, which compiles a complete inventory of materials to ensure the vessel is fully compliant.
For Procureship, the launch of the feature has already shown it benefits. “Since we launched the feature, our users are preferring to use our in-house IHM forms instead of uploading their own due to its simplicity. Our forms are verified by Bureau Veritas in conjunction with IMO resolution MEPC.379(80) so our users have the confidence to know that all forms are fully compliant,” Ms. Papathanasiou added.
Procureship’s IHM documentation process is the latest in a series of features the Greek company has implemented that showcases the effectiveness of technology in procurement operations, while also bringing modern solutions to traditionally old-school problems. Importantly, it is a clear example of how shipping operations can be made more efficient while also cutting costs, particularly at a time of stretched budgets.
“Embracing technology is now imperative for ship owners and operators as we look ahead to 2024 and beyond. Modern processes that use automation, machine learning and cloud-based systems will take that digitalisation journey to the next level and enable ship owners to reap the rewards more effectively,” said Grigoris Lamprou, Chief Executive Officer of Procureship.
“We have witnessed first-hand how these modern systems have improved the procurement process for the maritime industry, from shelf to ship. Crucially, it enables decision makers to make more informed choices that save time and money,” he added.
For owners and operators looking to ensure their vessels are compliant with relevant IHM regulations, amongst a host of other green requirements, this modern approach will go a long way to ensure the process is a pain free as possible and provide the confidence to know any potential risks or liabilities to the ship and its crew are minimised throughout the lifetime of the vessel.
