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SystemShip Management & Maritime Compliance

Port State Control Inspection Preparation

Port state control inspection preparation that reads five systems before the pilot boards, puts the examiner's first tests on top and reopens what was closed without a reading.

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The problem

A fire pump repair closed on paper, and the examiner tests it first

Before each call the marine superintendent has to know which certificate windows close before the ship sails, which deficiencies from the last inspections are really closed, what the crew papers say and whether the examiner will board. Those facts sit in the class society's survey status, the planned maintenance system, the crewing system, old inspection reports and the master's email.

So the superintendent works a spreadsheet, logs into the class portal one certificate at a time and asks the ship for scans. A window that shuts between arrival and sailing, a close-out that says tested and nothing more, a test the ship logs by hand that the examiner will run for real: those are the items nobody re-reads, and nobody owns the word ready.

Built forMarine superintendentsTechnical directorsDesignated persons ashoreCrewing managers

The Problem Today

Facts that decide a detention sit in five systems and an inbox, and the decisive ones are those nobody re-reads.

4.18%
of exams in Europe's port state regime ended in detention, 2025 published
96 h
notice of arrival to the Coast Guard before a US port published

Re-checked by hand before a call

  • Surveys
  • Old reports
  • Drill logs
  • Crew papers
  • Windows closing at the berthA survey due between arrival and sailing goes unnoticed
  • Close-outs with no readingRepaired and tested on paper, with nothing to show

The Solution

  1. Every item placed on a runwayEach one sits at the gate by which it must close
  2. Examiner's tests come firstA challenger ranks them and reopens the agents' weak closures
  3. Class and ship answer in fieldsSlots, fees and readings return as values a check can use
  4. Ready, signed by two peopleMarked by the superintendent, co-signed after opening each item

Built-in controls

  • Ready needs a maker and a separate checker
  • Master and surveyor notes are opened by a person
  • Spending above the set limit goes to the director

What You Get

Superintendents reach each port knowing what the examiner will test first, with the evidence already opened by the people who sign.

  • Weak closures reopened earlyA closure the agents got wrong is reopened before anyone signs
  • Class and ship asked in fieldsBookings and readings come back as values to check
  • Past rulings applied next timeA ruling becomes a rule once the technical director signs
Features

Port state control inspection features, from the runway to a co-signed ready

Marine superintendents use them to ready each ship for a US port call before the pilot boards, with the technical director, the DPA and crewing on their own items.

demoSample data throughout: the bulk carrier, its class society, the people and each figure shown.

  1. 01Arrival runway

    Port state control inspection runway, each item at the gate it must close by

    • Gates counted back from pilot boarding. Each item sits at the gate by which it must close, so the superintendent works the nearest gate first.
    • Five systems read in one pass. Class survey status, past inspection reports, maintenance close-outs, drill logs and crew papers, each value one click from its source.
    • Likely boarding from published targeting. Last Coast Guard exam, flag, class and history in plain words; a ship with no exam in twelve months is flagged as likely boarded, whatever its points.
  2. 02Certificate window

    Certificate survey window that closes in port, caught before arrival

    • Windows read from the endorsement page. A certificate whose window shuts between arrival and sailing is caught days out, while class can still offer a slot alongside.
    • A booking never counts as an endorsement. A booked survey moves the item to a dated plan, not to ready; only the endorsement on the certificate closes it.
  3. 03Deficiency close-out

    PSC deficiencies closed as tested OK with no reading, reopened for evidence

    • Close-outs read against the deficiency. A close-out that says tested OK with no reading is reopened, because the missing reading is what an examiner asks to see.
    • Past rulings shown at the item. An earlier refusal of a log-entry photo as fire pump evidence appears where it applies, before anyone accepts another.
    • Non-conformity left to the DPA. Whether a close-out with no record is an ISM non-conformity is the designated person ashore's call, and it does not block ready.
  4. 04Officer's read

    Examiner's first tests ranked before the PSC officer boards

    • Tests in the order an examiner runs them. Fire pump, blackout, survey window, separator alarm and ECDIS come in the examiner's order, each with the question asked, so the ship rehearses those first.
    • A sister ship's last exam read in. Steer the agents to a sister ship's exam at the same port, and the ranking follows what that examiner tested first.
    • Agent closures challenged. Weekly manual generator starts closed as a blackout test are reopened, because the company procedure asks for a monthly blackout start.
  5. 05Class request

    Class survey booking requested and answered in fixed fields

    • Slots, fees and surveyor as fields. Class answers with date, time, fee and who attends, so each slot can be priced without reading a thread.
    • Class notes kept for a person. Anything written outside the fields reaches the superintendent word for word and changes nothing until it is opened.
  6. 06Survey what-if

    Survey slot what-if: fee, days left in the window, cost of a finding

    • Each slot priced on stated assumptions. Chance of a finding, days to fix and daily hire are inputs the superintendent edits; fees come from class's reply, and days left in the window decide the risk.
    • Booked inside a spending limit. Bookings within a set limit go out on the superintendent's reason; above it the technical director approves.
  7. 07Ship's reply

    Emergency fire pump test evidence from the ship, with the hydrant pressure

    • Hydrant pressure, as the rule asks. The master enters the pressure at the highest hydrant with two jets beside pump discharge and attaches the video, so the office holds the figure the rule is read at.
    • Blackout and alarm tests in the same reply. Start type, time to load and the alarm trip point return as numbers the drill and records agent checks.
  8. 08Evidence compared

    Hydrant pressure compared with the SOLAS minimum before evidence is accepted

    • Hydrant reading against the minimum. Pump discharge is shown but marked as not the test, so a healthy gauge at the pump cannot stand in for the hydrant.
    • Below the minimum blocks ready. A reading under the minimum cannot be accepted, marked ready or co-signed; the ship is asked again.
    • Master's note opened before accepting. Accepting stays off until the superintendent has opened the master's note.
  9. 09Ready sign-off

    Ready for port state control, marked by the superintendent and co-signed

    • Ready means closed or dated. Each item is closed with evidence or carries a dated plan before its gate, with nothing left waiting on a person.
    • Co-signed after opening each item. Each item that needed a person must be opened by the technical director, after its latest decision, before the co-sign works.

Who readies a ship for port state control, and what each one sees

A superintendent owns each runway; the director co-signs it; the DPA and crewing own their items on it.

Marine superintendents

Ready each ship for its next port and mark it ready

  • Every item placed by the gate it must close
  • Closures without a reading reopened
  • Class slots priced against the survey window
Technical directors

Co-sign ready, approve spending above the limit, rules and settings

  • Items that needed a person opened before co-signing
  • Arrivals across the fleet with sign-off clocks
  • Rulings turned into rules once approved
Designated persons ashore

Decide whether a close-out with no record is a non-conformity

  • Each close-out beside the deficiency it answers
  • Ship's reading in hand before ruling
  • A decision that never blocks readiness
Crewing managers

Keep crew papers, endorsements, medicals and safe manning current for each call

  • Medicals expiring during the call flagged
  • Crew list checked against safe manning
  • Exam bookings attached to the item

A window shutting at the berth, a pump with no reading and our own closure

A survey window that shuts one day before the ship sails

The safety equipment certificate's annual survey was not endorsed and nothing was booked. Class offered two slots alongside; the earlier one leaves 3 days to fix a finding.

A fire pump fix closed with no pressure

The ship closed July's emergency fire pump deficiency as overhauled and tested OK, with no pressure recorded. The master's reply later gave 3.1 bar at the highest hydrant against the 2.7 bar minimum.

Six generator entries that were manual starts

The drill and records agent closed the blackout test on six weekly entries. The challenger saw they were manual starts, not blackout starts, and reopened the item.

A medical that expires during the call

A second engineer's medical certificate runs out while the ship is alongside. The exam is booked, and the item stays closing until the record arrives.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Eight agents read the ship, and none promises it will pass

Every finding moves on to another agent, or stops with the superintendent, the DPA or crewing.

Arrival planner

Reads the voyage, ETA and notice of arrival and sets every gate from the pilot time.

  • Changes no ETA without the port agent's reply
Certificate agent

Reads the class survey status and each endorsement page and places the survey windows.

  • Never treats a booking as an endorsement
Deficiency agent

Reads past inspection reports, class conditions and maintenance close-outs.

  • Never accepts tested OK without a reading
Drill and records agent

Reads drill logs, test records, the ECDIS update log and the oil record book scans.

  • Passes no test it cannot see recorded the way the procedure asks
Crew documents agent

Reads the crew list, the safe manning document, certificates and medicals.

  • Never contacts a seafarer directly
Targeting agent

Reads the ship's inspection history against the published targeting factors.

  • Never presents a sample score as the Coast Guard's own
Port state officer's read

Walks the ship as the examiner would, ranks the first tests and attacks the agents' closures.

  • Promises no outcome
  • Never tells anyone the ship will pass
Requests agent

Drafts requests to class, the ship and the port agent, and reads replies by field and file.

  • Sends only what a person approves
  • Passes free text to the superintendent unread
More screens

Twenty items closed, fourteen arrivals and the certificates as windows

Runway after the replies, and the fleet screens a superintendent opens around it.

Runway at sign-off20 closed, 3 closing with dated plans, none waiting on a person: ready, co-signed 69 hours 26 minutes before the pilot.
Arrivals14 calls by 12 ships in the next 14 days, each with its runway in miniature, items needing a person and the time left to sign off.
Ship fileCertificates drawn as survey windows across the year, the one not endorsed in red, and the targeting factors in plain words, labeled as sample points.
After the inspectionA deficiency from an exam closes the way a runway item does, with a record opened by a person. Beside it, deficiencies per inspection over four quarters.
Rules learnedThree rules apply because the technical director approved them. A fourth, on fire pump evidence, waits and shows only as a past ruling until then.
Audit trailWho opened what, who accepted and why, and the kind of each signature, for people and agents alike. Kept seven years after the ship leaves management.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Ready never means the ship will pass, and each call has a named owner

No promise of the outcomeReady means every item is closed with evidence or dated before its gate, signed by two people. What the examiner finds is the examiner's.
No sample score passed off as the Coast Guard'sTargeting points are labeled as sample estimates; the Coast Guard's own score is not available to the company.
No contact with a seafarerCrew papers are read from the crewing system; anything a seafarer must do goes through the crewing manager.
Notes from outside held until openedA note from the master, class or the port agent reaches the superintendent word for word, and holds the decision it touches until opened.
No spending above the limit by one personA survey booking over the superintendent's limit waits for the technical director, and every booking carries its reason.

What superintendents ask about port state control inspection preparation

What is a port state control inspection?

A port state control inspection is the port state's examination of a visiting ship, run by the Coast Guard in US ports: its certificates, past deficiencies, drills and records, and crew papers. Here agents read those facts before arrival, a challenger ranks what the examiner will test first, and two people sign the ship ready.

How do you prepare for a PSC inspection?

Check each certificate window against the days in port, confirm past deficiencies are closed with a reading, test what the examiner will test, and check crew papers against safe manning. Each of those lands on the runway at the gate by which it must close.

Will the Coast Guard board our ship?

A targeting agent reads the ship's history against the Coast Guard's published factors and says whether boarding is likely. A ship with no Coast Guard exam in the past twelve months is flagged as likely to be boarded whatever its points; the points shown are labeled as sample estimates.

Does it say the ship will not be detained?

No. No agent promises the outcome of an exam. Ready means each item is closed with evidence or has a dated plan, signed by the superintendent with the technical director's co-signature.

What counts as evidence for a deficiency close-out?

Whatever record the rule asks for. For an emergency fire pump that is the pressure at the highest hydrant with two jets, with the gauge in view; a close-out that says tested OK is reopened.

What happens to deficiencies found at the inspection?

They close the same way as runway items: with a record, opened by a person. Fleet deficiencies per inspection are tracked quarter by quarter.

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Put your next arrival
on the runway.

Bring one ship's certificates, last inspection report and close-outs, and we will lay its next port call out with you.

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