Vessel check — confirm IMO, flag, owner, operator before signing

The 5-minute verification on the ship itself. Done right, this catches non-existent vessels, vessels under sanctions, vessels with a PSC detention history, and vessel-name swaps.

Who this is for

Every seafarer accepting a specific vessel assignment. The check matters most on first contracts with a new principal or under a flag you haven't sailed under.

Practical steps

1. Find the vessel on /ships by IMO (7 digits, hover-check on Equasis if the IMO seems off).
2. Cross-check the named flag against the IMO record. Flag changes are common; an out-of-date flag in your offer is a warning.
3. Confirm the owner / operator / manager match the principal named on the SEA.
4. Search the vessel on /psc/detentions — recent detentions suggest a ship with chronic problems.
5. Check sanctions exposure if the route includes Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, or Cuba.
6. Open the vessel's flag-state register (MARAD, MARINA, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Panama) and confirm the vessel exists in it.

Checklist

• IMO is valid (7 digits, passes the check-digit rule).
• Vessel name on the SEA matches the IMO record.
• Flag matches the SEA + current operator.
• Operator on the SEA appears as owner or manager on the IMO record.
• Vessel type matches the rank you're being hired for.
• Last PSC detention is older than 12 months (or context for any recent one is known).
• No active sanctions hit against owner / operator / charterer.
• Class society is one of the IACS members (or has a known recognition arrangement with the flag).

Common mistakes

• Trusting a vessel name without an IMO — names get reused; the IMO is the unique key.
• Accepting 'the IMO will be confirmed at the gangway'. The IMO is on every ship's certificates and on the bow.
• Skipping the sanctions check on a route through high-risk waters.
• Ignoring a recent PSC detention without context.

Last verified 5 months ago