Search for SIRE 2.0 preparation and you will find many CBT courses: computer-based training modules that explain the inspection regime and walk crews through its questions. They are useful. A crew that has never faced a SIRE 2.0 inspection should start there.
But a CBT certificate is not what the inspector assesses. SIRE 2.0 has been mandatory for OCIMF tanker inspections since September 2024. This article looks at the gap between knowing the regime and performing on the day, and how to close it.
What SIRE 2.0 actually tests
Every inspection uses a Compiled Vessel Inspection Questionnaire, or CVIQ. OCIMF describes it as a unique, vessel-specific set of questions compiled for each inspection. It is built from the vessel’s HVPQ and the operator’s Pre-Inspection Questionnaire.
Questions are either Core, asked at every relevant inspection, or Rotational, allocated over several inspections in a way the crew cannot predict.
A question can be answered through three kinds of response: hardware, process and human. The inspector looks at the equipment, checks the procedure, and watches or questions the people doing the task. Only human responses can produce a positive observation.
When an inspector records a human observation, it is linked to Performance Influencing Factors. These are the conditions that help or hinder people at work, such as fatigue or communication. Inspectors choose them from a set list.
What CBT does well
- It explains the structure: the CVIQ, the question types, the response types and the flow of the inspection.
- It teaches the vocabulary, so the crew understands what the inspector is asking for.
- It lets every rank learn at their own pace, including crew who join between inspections.
- It gives the company a training record.
Where CBT stops
A CBT module cannot show the inspector your vessel. Three gaps matter most.
Your own procedures. Process responses test whether the crew follows your company’s safety management system, not a generic one. A crew can pass a course and still be unsure how your own permit-to-work or cargo plan approval runs on board.
Doing, not describing. Human responses are assessed by watching tasks and talking to the people doing them. Confidence comes from drills and practice on board, not from a screen ashore.
The work before the inspector arrives. SIRE 2.0 starts before boarding. Operators must upload standard photographs to OCIMF’s Photograph Repository. OCIMF recommends refreshing them at about six-month intervals, and sooner if the vessel’s condition changes. A missing photograph is recorded as a negative observation. The PIQ must be updated before each inspection, and OCIMF asks for the operator’s declaration not less than 48 hours before the planned inspection.
A practical preparation plan
- CBT for every rank, early in the contract, so the language is familiar.
- An office check of the data: HVPQ, PIQ, certificates and photographs, well before the 48-hour declaration.
- On-board walk-throughs of the tasks the CVIQ is likely to cover, done by the crew who will actually be on board.
- A mock inspection by someone who has sailed in command, using your own procedures and equipment.
- A closing review that turns every finding from the mock into a corrective action with an owner and a date.
After the inspection
At the closing meeting, negative observations and positive human observations are compiled into an Observation Declaration, signed by the inspector and the master. The operator then has 14 days from the release of the report to add its initial comments. The report stays on the SIRE database for 12 months. Treat those 14 days as part of the inspection, not an afterthought.
Where Lex Dux fits
We do not sell CBT courses. We help operators turn training into performance on the day: data and photograph checks, mock inspections led by a Master Mariner, and structured closure of observations. See our Marine Survey & Compliance practice, or read our earlier piece, SIRE 2.0, One Year On.