(a) Section 8.1 applies to sections from 8.2 to 8.5.
(b) The ADNOC Ship Vetting Department shall perform an assessment of a Vessel and, where necessary, shall conduct an inspection of a Vessel prior being it permitted to carry on any operation falling within the scope of this Standard.
(c) ADNOC Ship Vetting inspections will only be conducted following receipt of an official request from a Vessel’s/Craft’s owner or operator for such inspection.
(d) A Vessel/Craft inspection will be planned only after owners confirm their acceptance of the ADNOC Ship Vetting Terms and Conditions, which are provided separately to the owners.
(e) A Vessel/Craft inspection will not include an inspection of the ship’s structure. However, it will include a review of the structural details as provided by Class reports.
(f) Conditions of Class or Class Memoranda imposed by ship’s Class shall be assessed and evaluated as part of the assessment process.
(g) A Vessel’s operator, manager or owner shall report any Conditions of Class or Class Memoranda imposed by Ship’s Class to the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department upon nomination.
(h) Vessels may be granted acceptance with a validity based on the outcome of the assessment undertaken by the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department.
(i) The Vessel’s age will be instrumental in determining the frequency of future assessments.
(j) Vetting acceptance and validity shall not be considered as a blanket approval as it might be affected by the following factors:
(1) owner/ operator's profile.
(2) terminal and operational feedback, market intelligence, casualty data, PSC inspections and any other information held or received by the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department.
(3) changes in the Vessel’s condition status; and
(4) future national or international legislative changes and/or any alterations in this Standard.
(k) In the event of any concerns, the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department will normally correspond with the ship’s operators/owners to determine if these have been dealt with to the satisfaction of the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department.
(l) Vessels considered to present risk to the ADNOC Group may be rejected for a specific period as decided by the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department.
(m) Each business line within the ADNOC Group is responsible for undertaking adequate due diligence to ensure that the national and international sanctions risk attendant upon any Vessel nominated by that business line/ADNOC Group company is fully understood and acceptable to the management of that business line/ADNOC Group company in line with applicable national and international laws and internal policy/procedure.
(n) The ADNOC Ship Vetting Department will also screen Vessels for certain kinds of exposure to national and international sanctions using a pre-determined set of information incorporated into the vetting assessment process.A negative result may lead to rejection of a Vessel(s).
(o) Neither the ADNOC Group nor any of its employees, agents or contractors, shall be under any liability whatsoever to any ship owner, operator or third party by reason of acceptance/non-acceptance of a particular Vessel.
(p) Ship owners shall pay the vetting inspection charges as per the tariff listed in Appendix 1 of this Standard. This tariff may be revised without notice from time to time as per the decision of the ADNOC CEO. The charges are exclusive of VAT.
8.2 Oil Tankers, Chemical tankers and Gas Carriers
(a) As an active member of the OCIMF, ADNOC fully supports and participates in the OCIMF committees and forums.
(b) ADNOC Ship Vetting will be primarily based on an assessment of the latest SIRE inspection report available on the OCIMF-SIRE system, submitted by one (1) of the OCIMF Member Companies.
(c) If there is no SIRE ship inspection report available in the SIRE system, the Vessel will need to be inspected by one (1) of the accredited SIRE inspectors.
(d) The SIRE inspection must have been completed within the last six (6) months.
(e) The ADNOC Ship Vetting Department applies the OCIMF “30 days inspection” rule, nevertheless will require a Vessel to undergo a fresh SIRE inspection prior to being considered for ADNOC Group business in the following cases:
(1) if the latest SIRE inspection indicates that the condition of the ship or its equipment or crew does not, in ADNOC Ship Vetting Department’s opinion, substantially meet its requirements; and/or
(2) if in the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department’s opinion there has been significant negative feedback about the Vessel during a previous visit.
(f) The ADNOC Ship Vetting Department may also require a Vessel to undergo a fresh SIRE inspection prior to being considered for ADNOC Group business, if any of the following cases occur after the date of the available SIRE report:
(i)if the Vessel has had technical management, flag or class change;
(ii)if the Vessel has been detained as a result of a port state inspection during the last twelve(12) months; and/or
(iii)if the Vessel has been involved in an incident during the last twelve (12) months.
(g) Inspections may be conducted by the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department or any of the OCIMF Member Companies’ accredited SIRE inspectors. However, the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department reserves the right when it deems it necessary to undertake an ADNOC Ship Vetting inspection.
(h) SIRE inspections shall normally be carried out during cargo operations and preferably during discharging operations. However SIRE inspections for LNG and LPG carriers may be carried out during loading or discharging operations.
(i) Inspections conducted on a Vessel in Idle Status may be granted a one-off vetting acceptance limited validity of three (3) months, within which period an operational SIRE inspection report must be made available in the SIRE database for assessment by the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department.
(j) Inspections required for vetting purposes must be carried out by inspectors who are accredited for the type of ship by OCIMF-SIRE, as appropriate.
(k) Only SIRE reports downloaded directly from the OCIMF-SIRE database, by the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department shall be utilized for assessment purposes. Reports furnished by ship owners, operators, charterers, cargo owners or obtained from sources other than OCIMF-SIRE shall not be considered.
(l) Remote SIRE inspection reports will not be considered sufficient to complete the vetting process, vessels to ensure the availability of a valid physical SIRE inspection report.
8.3 Dry Cargo Ships
(a) Preliminary acceptance of bulk carriers, general cargo, dry cargo, RORO and container ships will be based on an assessment of the most recent available records from maritime intelligence information sources, PSC records and historical terminal feedback reports.
(b) An assessment will be conducted prior to each and every call in a Petroleum Port, and acceptance will be based on “clean” historical Vessel performance records, including but not limited to PSC detention and casualty/incident records.
(c) Final acceptance will be subject to satisfactory outcome of a physical inspection by PPA personnel or their appointed representatives upon arrival of the Vessel and prior to berthing.
8.4 Combination Carriers
(a) Combination Carriers with the last cargo carried as liquid cargo, shall be treated as an oil tanker and shall comply with Tanker Vessel’s requirements as stipulated in this standard.
(b) Where last cargo carried is dry cargo, shall be thoroughly evaluated to ensure suitability based on the following:
(i) Review of cargo change over procedures, Risk Assessment Reports
(ii) Physical Visit by our representative within the last twelve (12) months to verify the vessel condition, operational readiness, and crew proficiency. Charges will be applied as stipulated in Appendix I.
(iii) Shall be assessed based on Operational SIRE inspection report submitted by one (1) of the OCIMF Member Companies.
(iv) Shall be insured with a member of the International Group of P&I.
(i) ADNOC Ship Vetting will be primarily based on an assessment of the latest SIRE-BIQ inspection report available on the OCIMF-SIRE system, submitted by one (1) of the OCIMF Member Companies.
(ii) If there is no SIRE-BIQ inspection report available in the SIRE system, the Vessel will need to be inspected by one (1) of the accredited SIRE inspectors.
(iii) The SIRE-BIQ inspection must have been completed within the last twelve (12) months.
(iv) The ADNOC Ship Vetting Department applies the OCIMF “30 days inspection” rule, require a Vessel to undergo a fresh SIRE-BIQ inspection prior to being considered for ADNOC Group business in the following cases:
(1) if the latest SIRE inspection indicates that the condition of the ship or its equipment or crew does not, in ADNOC Ship Vetting Department’s opinion, substantially meet its requirements; and/or
(2) if in the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department’s opinion there has been significant negative feedback about the Vessel during a previous visit or history.
(v) The review of the latest Class Status Report would be part of the ADNOC Vetting process.
(vi) Shall be covered by a recognized P&I.
(vii) Must be classed by a recognized Classification Society.
(b) Ocean Going Tanker Barges:
(i) Ocean Going Tanker Barges will follow the same requirements as Inland Tanker Barges except for the SIRE-BIQ inspection report which shall be considered valid for assessment within the last six (6) months.
(ii) Must be classed by a Classification Society which is a member of IACS.
(iii) Shall be insured with a member of the International Group of P&I.
(a) PPA will only permit Passenger Vessels to call at the Petroleum Ports or within the Petroleum Port Limits provided they have been inspected and accepted by the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department prior to such call.
(b) If, in the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department’s opinion, high risk observations are noted during the initial inspection, a physical Follow-up Inspection will be conducted to verify close-out of the high risk observations to the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department’s satisfaction.
(c) High risk observations will not be limited to the Passenger Vessel’s condition and/or operations. Other factors related to the owners and/or operators and/or crew/passengers will also be considered and assessed on a case-by-case basis.
(d) During the physical Follow-up Inspection, should a Passenger Vessel fail to prove completion of corrective actions and close-out of any high risk observations to the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department’s satisfaction, a new cycle of full inspection and follow-up shall be required.
(e) Should a Passenger Vessel fail to achieve acceptance after the second cycle of inspection, the Passenger Vessel shall be considered as a high risk and be banned for three (3) months from the date of the second Follow-up Inspection. If after the three (3) months ban has ended, should the Passenger Vessel be nominated again, a fresh full inspection shall be conducted.
8.7 Offshore and Project’s Crafts
(a) Inspection requests shall be made at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the actual date of inspection to allow sufficient time for the required preparations.
(b) Inspection services are provided during ADNOC’s official working hours and days.
(c) High risk observations will include, but not be limited to, the Craft’s condition and/or operations. All other factors related to the owners and/or operators will also be considered and assessed on a case- by-case basis.
(d) Subject to the nature of the observations raised during the initial inspection, a Follow-up Inspection may be conducted on board the Craft to verify satisfactory close-out.
(e) Should the Craft’s owners or operators fail to prove completion of corrective actions and close-out of any high risk observations to the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department’s satisfaction, during the Follow-up Inspection, a new cycle of full inspection and follow-up shall be required.
(f) Should a Craft fail to achieve acceptance after the second cycle of inspection, the Vessel shall be considered as a high risk and be banned for three (3) months from the date of the second Follow- up Inspection.
(g) Upon completion of the period of three (3) months, should the Craft be nominated again, a fresh full inspection shall be conducted.
(h) Completion of an inspection alone shall not be considered as acceptance of the Craft to enter/operate within the Petroleum Port Limits.
(i) An assessment of the Craft’s suitability for ADNOC Group business will be conducted by the ADNOC Ship Vetting Department and results will be advised to the Craft’s owners/operators indicating the validity period of the acceptance.
(j) After the completion of ADNOC Ship Vetting process, a Craft Entry Permit, if requested, shall be issued to the ship’s operators by the concerned Harbour Master of the relevant Petroleum Port with a validity in line with the earliest date of:
(i) the vetting acceptance validity date; or
(ii) the earliest date of expiry of any statutory certificate.
(k) The Craft Entry Permit process is conducted during working hours, therefore forty- eight (48) hours’ notice is required before arrival into the Petroleum Port Limits. Any requirements for processing the same outside working hours shall be based on business essential needs.