by Martina Meinders, Managing Director at MARIN Shipmanagement
RightShip inspections and Crew Welfare Self-Assessments should not be seen as paperwork exercises. When properly used, they become a practical regulatory shield that protects the vessel, the crew, the environment and the commercial reputation of the company.
A “RightShip-ready” vessel is one where safety barriers are visible, tested and understood. RISQ readiness checks the condition of the vessel, the effectiveness of the Safety Management System, crew familiarity with critical procedures, and the quality of onboard evidence. It asks a simple but powerful question: are procedures only written, or are they truly lived on board?
The human element is equally important. Crew welfare is a safety barrier. It functions like a physical shield, ensuring workers remain alert, focused, and capable of making critical decisions during emergencies. Rest, fair treatment, communication, mental wellbeing, grievance channels and decent living conditions directly influence attention, reporting quality, emergency response and operational reliability. A crew that feels supported is more likely to speak up, follow procedures and identify risks before they become incidents.
The strongest approach is to integrate RISQ and Crew Welfare Self-Assessment into a single readiness rhythm: vessel walk-downs, crew conversations, evidence reviews, corrective action tracking, and fleet learning. Findings should not simply be closed on paper. They should be risk-ranked, corrected, verified on board, and shared across the fleet to prevent recurrence.
Marin Shipmanagement supports this process through gap-analysis workshops, pre-inspection crew coaching, Corrective Action Preventive Action, welfare assessment support, evidence-based training and fleet learning bulletins.
The final message is clear: we do not prepare only for RightShip. We use RightShip to prepare safer vessels, stronger crews and better operating standards across the maritime industry.
Note : For any question(s), viewers can contact Marin Shipmanagement Ltd. – Head of Training – Mr. Panayiotis Tafanides.Phone:+357 25 871 356 and email:training@marin-shipmanagement.com
