How OCIMF’s SIRE 2.0 Is Reshaping Marine Inspections

Over a year after its launch, the SIRE 2.0 programme from the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) has already reshaped marine inspections by combining digital innovation and human factors.

Launched in 2024, SIRE 2.0 set out to modernise inspections through digitalisation, greater data transparency and a stronger focus on human factors. With more than 24,000 inspections completed since the new scheme came online, OCIMF has noted that this is not just a technical upgrade but a broader shift in vessel inspection culture.

While transitioning from a long-established paper-based system to a fully digital inspection regime has had its challenges, including connectivity issues, hardware variability and the huge amount of data needed, OCIMF noted that the biggest challenge was around changing habits built over decades.

Fortunately, OCIMF highlighted how the wider tanker industry has adapted to the new programme, resulting in a more transparent, efficient, and insightful inspection process.

As part of its Annual Report, OCIMF showcased how many vessels have now used the SIRE 2.0 inspection programme:

• 10,039 commercial vessels inspected
• 4,565 barges inspected
• 3,216 offshore vessels inspected
• 483 inspectors using the programme
• 33,000+ reports uploaded
• 230,000+ reports downloaded

OCIMF’s SIRE 2.0 represents the most significant transformation in tanker inspection since the original SIRE programme launched in 1993.

The shift from standardised checklists to risk-based, algorithmically-generated inspections means operators are now conducting inspections on web-enabled tablets with GPS verification, real-time reporting, and mandatory photographic evidence.

This digital approach has created a permanent, auditable trail of maintenance records, training documentation, and corrective actions. Reports remain active in the OCIMF database for 12 months, ensuring continuous accountability and enabling fleet-wide learning from each inspection.

SIRE 2.0 also includes the integration of human factors into inspections, guided by OCIMF’s Human Factors Committee. Inspectors are now trained to look beyond technical compliance and consider the pressures, fatigue, and conditions that shape decision making. According to OCIMF, this approach is necessary to showcase how safety depends as much on people as it does on technology.

With SIRE 2.0 now in place for tanker inspections, OCIMF expects the digitalised regime to adapt more quickly to emerging risks, such as the introduction of alternative marine fuels and evolving regulatory requirements.

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