It is not enough to be a qualified expert and to advise good solutions a surveyor should likewise be able to set out his observations and experiences in clear statements and undisputable reports.
1. General
Reports should be a formal presentation of facts.
Reports may be accompanied by other suitable means of documentation, drawings, sketches, photographs, diagrams, and/or other means of detailed escription.
Port State Control refers to reporting procedures stating that the following minimum information should be specified in the Port State Control report provided to the master:
- Reporting country
- Name of ship
- Flag of ship
- Call sign
- Gross tonnage
- Yea r of build
- Date and place of control
- Subject of control
- Nature of deficiencies (if any)
- Deficiency Convention regulation Action taken
(Wherever it can be identified)
- Name and signature of surveyor
- Telex/telephone number
Classification societies, when carrying out surveys on behalf of an Administration follow the format below. Surveyors, in general, may find this useful.
A report in respect of matters of international conventions and/or safety should always contain:
- Name and rank/position of the person issuing the report,
- place and date(s) of survey,
- identification of the vessel or object,
- (Name, eventually ex-name(s), Register number, Gross tonnage, and Port of Register).
- area, port and terminal where vessel stays,
- requesting party and authorization for the report,
- date and time of survey,
- specification of survey request,
- scope of survey carried out/necessary
- facts ascertained,
- condition of the vessel/objects,
- actions required or dealt with,
- results obtained or deferred or outstanding,
- signature
- and name (in capital letters) of the surveyor,
- distribution scheme for the report.
Circumstances may call for comprehensive reports, but other conditions may require only short statements.
2. Classification Survey Reports
By Bureau Veritas standards classification reports are to be set out clearly and precisely as follows:
The report is to state who commissioned the survey, in which yard or by which firm work has been carried out and any additional comments regarding the place of survey.
The report shall then deal with the surveys, the survey results and any repairs actually carried out.
The items and components surveyed are clearly to be named. All the sectors and compartments surveyed are to be specified or listed completely in the report.
The scope of the survey and of any repairs must be made clear in the report by the choice of suitable expressions, e.g.:
- “generally examined externally”
- “inspected in place”
- “opened and surveyed”
- “dismantled and thoroughly overhauled by ....”
- “hydrostatically tested”.
Supposed or assumed causes of damage shall not be mentioned in the report. Only causes which are manifest and free of doubt shall be stated.
Recommendations are to be formulated explicitly. Where more than one recommendation is made they are to be numbered consecutively.
Note:
A recommendation acquires formal status only if the following conditions are satisfied:
- the component/assembly concerned is clearly described;
- a fixed date is specified for settlement (day, month, year);
- the validity of the class is terminated by this date.
Where one of these conditions is not met, the term “recommendation” is not to be used. For open items which do not satisfy the above mentioned conditions, the term “pending item” or “notation” can be used.
- Recommendations, class restrictions and conditions for a qualified confirmation of class, e.g. following average damage, are to be so formulated that they are clear and self-explanatory even to third parties.
This is important in the event of a change of master or chief engineer or when the ship safety and/or port authorities have to consult Class Certificates, reports, etc.
- In addition to the description of repairs etc., express mention is to be made of the settlement of recommendations.
Example:
“Recommendations No. 1 and 3 according to report XX5 have thereby been settled”.
- Recommendations, pending items and notations are logged for electronic data processing at Flag Administration or Head Office by means of an "Implementation Code".
When specifying recommendations etc., the Surveyor should confine himself to terms used in the code table to describe the nature of the recommendations etc. and the time allowed for their implementation.
Terms used in the Implementation Code:
a) to describe the nature of the recommendation
to be examined to be renewed
to be surveyed to be repaired
to be resurveyed may remain
to be supplied to be carried out
b) for the time allowed for implementation
by………. (date) unlimited
by next class renewal as soon as possible
by intermediate survey by next annual survey
at next dry-docking by recommissioning.
For a number of special events, extra reporting schemes should be followed as indicated below, covering especially matters of
- damage and failures,
- repairs
- conversions/modifications,
- changes of registration details,
- sale transactions.
3. Damage Report
The following presents a suggestion for preparation of damage reports, as used by Bureau Veritas:
Presented clearly and intelligibly the report must provide sufficient information to enable the damage to be assessed by others.
According to the particular circumstances of each case, the report must also indicate the necessary permanent or temporary repairs as well as the other relevant measures or conditions.
A clear distinction is made between damage due to normal wear and tear and average damage.
The Class Report shall not mention any supposed or suspected causes of the damage and shall restrict itself to causes which are obvious and established beyond doubt.
In the case of average damage, either a copy of the logbook extract is to be appended to the report or the accident is to be briefly described with the mention: “...according to the master's statement ...”
Each individual AVERAGE DAMAGE is to be dealt with separately in the report.
If necessary for the determination and evaluation of the damage, a separate report, prepared without using a form, is to be forwarded to Flag Administration or Head Office dealing with the causes of the damage and the course of the accident (as understood by the Surveyor) as well as with any unusual circumstances, defects in design or materials etc.
Photographs or sketches may usefully supplement the Damage Report, especially in the case of major or unusual damage.
Where particular areas in which damage has occurred or is suspected cannot be surveyed, or cannot be thoroughly surveyed, because of inaccessibility due to a submerged location, cargo, flooding etc., this is to be stated in the report and thorough survey is to be stipulated at the specified time.
4. Repair Report
Repairs are to be described in such a way that the repaired areas/components can be identified when the report is processed by Flag Administration or Head Office and later on board ship.
The scope of the repair must be clearly apparent by the choice of terms used in the report, e.g.:
- renewed
- faired
- re-welded
- realigned
The IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS is to be explicitly mentioned in addition to the description of the repair etc.
Example:
- “Recommendations Nº.1 and 3 according to Report Nº. xxx5 have therefore been implemented.”
5. Conversion Report
A conversion is to be described in such a way that old and new areas can be identified when later surveys are made. If this cannot be achieved by description alone, an intelligible general drawing is to be appended to the report.
The material s and components used are to be listed in the report together with the numbers of the corresponding test certificates.
Where, this list is of considerable extent, as appropriate form may be used for the purpose.
For subdivisions and material s relating to structural fire protection an Approval Certificate must be available. In the list it will suffice to indicate the Approval No. and the date of issuance.
New approvals will be granted by Flag Administration or Head Office upon application by manufacturers following submission of the fire test protocols.
Where in individual cases test certificates of other Classification Societies and/or other institutions are accepted, copies of such test certificates will always have to be attached to the relevant list.
In the case of very major conversions, Flag Administration or Head Office may require that a conversion report be prepared on as per your own procedure.
Alterations of the details in the Class Certificate resulting from a conversion are to be made by the Surveyor and are to be marked with his seal and signed by him. In doing this he shall ensure that the entries correspond to the official papers, including for example the Tonnage Certificate, the Load Line Certificate, the official Registration Certificate etc.
6. Change of Register Details
Reports concerning major conversions are to be made on the appropriates procedures “Details for the Register Book – Hull”. However, the report may be confined to those details which have been changed.
For minor conversions it is sufficient to prepare a report on appropriate report, as an annex to the Conversion Report.
The data are to be preceded by the note: “Alteration of Register Data”.
7. Reports with the Sale of a Ship
Reporting is to be made on the standard survey reporting form.
A note is to be made to the effect that the survey was performed at the “express request” of the owner.
Surveys are preferably to be specified, according to the kind of survey, e.g. “Dry-docking Survey” or “Occasional Survey”. The terms “Sales Survey” and “Confirmation of Class” must not be employed.
This is also to be reflected in the certificate entry:
“Occasional Survey carried out in dry-docks. Class confirmed with respect to the survey conducted.”
If, beyond this, surveys are performed for the new owners, the relevant reports and statements of fees are to be prepared separately and clearly correlated.
Changes in Register data are to be communicated to Flag Administration or Head Office separately from the survey report.
Alterations to Class Certificate Hull are to be made by the Surveyor in accordance with the new details. For this purpose it is essential that the relevant official documents are available.
As a standard of comparison for reporting, a number of formal reports by standards have been collected and are attached to this subject:
- Damage Survey
- Dry-dock Survey and Repair
- Conversion Survey Hull
- Class Renewal Survey Hull
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