IMCA Celebrates E-CMID's First Year

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is celebrating a successful first year for the electronic version (e-CMID) of their Common Marine Inspection Document (CMID). In the year since e-CMID was launched 124 vessel operators have registered 340 vessels on the system. The Association will be considering the use of, and improvements to, the CMID database at its Annual Seminar being held in Dubai next week (from 23rd to 24th November 2010).

The original CMID was developed over a decade ago because vessels were subjected to repeat inspections, each with a slightly different format, because there was no acceptance of other clients' inspection results, and no common approach available. The CMID proved invaluable for vessel clients, owners/operators and inspectors alike. Last November IMCA launched e-CMID, along with the online CMID database as a natural and logical progression to ensure the document's continued usefulness. Registration is free of charge for all, IMCA members and non-members alike, and the system has its own dedicated website.

The first year of use of the CMID has seen rewarding take-up figures as 1040 users have registered. They come from five user groups: 124 vessel operators; 103 clients; 88 combined operators/ clients; 221 inspection companies; and 11 industry organisations that also have an interest in the reports. These statistics, coupled with the 340 vessels registered by operators, remain beyond IMCA's expectations. However, the system continuously needs to be improved to ensure its maximum use to vessel owners, operators and allied user groups around the world; and to encourage ever-greater use of the database.
To assist all users, and potential users, of CMID and e-CMID (there is no charge for use by anyone around the world) IMCA has organised a series of workshops on the subject. There are two workshops, one aimed at vessel owners and operators and the other at CMID inspectors. Purposely small groups in the UK, in The Netherlands, and Singapore have benefited from these workshops and the association will be holding more of them, for example, in the UAE.

The workshops aim to support vessel owners, operators and inspectors in implementing the use of the CMID inspection report database. Both are truly interactive, the sharing of information and ideas is important, so the IMCA personnel involved come away with suggestions for improvements to consider and implement as appropriate.