The vetting session at November’s Tanker Shipping & Trade Conference surpassed last year’s discussion in terms of volume and range of questions as well as the intensity of debate.

Oman Shipping Company’s chief operating officer Capt David Stockley was both forthright and contrite in his analysis. “I think the overall view of the industry, and I was part of the industry, I was a SIRE inspector, is that the SIRE inspector is right and everybody else is wrong.

If only one person has been disciplined [by CDI] in five years either [CDI has] such a high standard and the owners don’t know what they are talking about or the system is not good enough. I would suggest the reason there is only one is because not enough owners complain and the reason they don’t complain is because they don’t want to upset the person or bite the hand that feeds [them].”

Responding, CDI’s general manager Captain Howard Snaith challenged Capt Stockley’s challenge, head on.

“Our systems are extremely robust, we have ISO 9000 systems in place, we have strong governance and if there are complaints it goes back to the accreditation committee, which is made up of shipowners as well as chemical companies,” he said. “It is a very transparent process. We listen, we act, we react.”

He also stressed the organisation’s lack of complacency. Next year CDI will issue the ninth edition of its vessel inspection questionnaire, to ensure it reflects current best practice. The edition will reflect the findings of a year-long programme of shipowner and chemical companies’ interviews.

The organisation’s self-inspection document – also known as SID – will be enhanced and there will also be investment in software and databases behind the scenes to support smooth operations all round.

A final word on the discussion this year was given to NYK Line’s Alan Johnson. When asked what he would like to see changed in the current vetting regime, he argued that both SIRE and its associated vessel inspection questionnaire needs to be changed.

But ultimately, we are failing as an industry when it comes to teaching officers and crew seamanship. The emphasis, he argued, has shifted far too far in favour of passing SIRE inspections “and that is wrong to me.”

What happens when you vet the vetting process? Well at the Tanker Shipping & Trade Conference you get a diversity of views, pointed discussions and crucially suggestions on the way forward.

Next year’s forum has a lot to live up to.