INVENTORY OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS (IHM) The MAINTENANCE Project

Three months into 2021 and you are probably done with your IHM, for your vessels. But what are you doing with its Maintenance? As per MEPC 269(68) and EU Regulation 1257/2013, the Inventory of Hazardous Materials should be should be appropriately maintained and updated, especially after any repair or conversion or sale of a ship. Moreover, if any machinery or equipment is added to, removed or replaced or the hull coating is renewed, part I of the Inventory should be updated.

Already, even during the much challenging CoVID-19 era, it has been repeatedly reported that, already, during PSC checks and vetting audits on behalf of charterers, it has been requested by vessels to demonstrate how IHM is maintained.

But, how IHM is maintained?

There is only one way to maintain the IHM: gather proper Material Declaration for parts getting onboard, along with the related Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity. And there is only one way to achieve this: by adequate process organization.

Any item that will get onboard has to be purchased first. So, it is understood that Purchasing is the channel through which the Maintenance process has to be established.

But IHM is not about everything getting onboard. There are certain items, either spare parts or stores, that fall under the scope of IHM and, therefore, require to be documented.

So, it is understood that there has to be a certain sorting of items, before requesting documents from a Supplier.

After this, you have to go to each supplier and request these. But, even this way, it is much expected that some Supplier will not respond or revert with erroneous documents. And the story goes on.

“Celled” in an Excel or “relaxed” on some kind of “Cloud” solution?

Eventually, it will prove that IHM Maintenance can be a quite demanding operation that requires adequate time, knowledge and tools, unless you want to get in the non-comfortable at all position of trying to explain to a Vetting officer, conducting an audit on behalf of a charterer onboard your vessel, how you are going to close the gaps a trained eye can easily spot, with a few moves.

Until then, you would probably understand that, unless you dedicate trained and experienced personnel to IHM Maintenance, with access to the right tools, you are probably in for a lot of work in retrospect, having also to cover a Non-conformity spotted.

Regarding tools, there is also a lot of discussion to be made. As always, promising and “cost-effective” solutions have emerged. “Cloud-based” solutions, “keep-POs-copied” “experts” and all kinds of “convenient” novelties have emerged, creating the erroneous perception that you can buy copper in the price of steel.

So, what should you do?

As always, the market has come up with enough diversity to cover everyone. By now, you should be able to track some reliable and cost-efficient solutions, which will come at a rational but not overrated cost.

At ICS SOLIX?, within our LAMINAE software, we have developed a truly automated solution, proven to keep human involvement at minimal and returning an effective result.

Either connected to your purchasing software or updated by your SMS Requisition procedure, it creates the proper record of all new item bought, for every unique vessel. Sorting of items to PCHM is done automatically and a track record of Purchase is created.

All communication with suppliers is performed automatically and MDs & SDoCs are imported directly to LAMINAE software, updating relevant entries automatically while orders are categorized. 

MDs & SDoCs are evaluated by our experts and, when compliant, they are used to characterize items. Upon this, reports are created, upon request or at regular interval.

Moreover, suppliers are rated according to their feedback, facilitating thus your company to take proper action in order to assure third party compliance to SMS procedures.

Client has also continuous access to all data stored and processed, along with a full statistical analysis of Orders imported, their process status and rating of the suppliers.

Why LAMINAE and ICS SOLIX??

ICS SOLIX? has a proven record of preparing IHM for over 700 vessels, using its unique LAMINAE software, paired with iSURVE Mobile Application.

Working with more than 100 shipping companies, we have a proven solution that covers all the IHM Maintenance requirements, while using the data to create added value for your vessels, standing by your side as a reliable partner.

Contact us at [email protected] for a free demo and a quotation!

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