Ship Inspection Platform Idwal Urges Investors to Act on Assets

Idwal, a leading maritime consultancy and data service provider which hosts the industry’s first online inspection platform Inspectmyship^TM, has called upon investors to pay greater attention to the management and maintenance regime of their assets.

During Marine Money Week in New York, Nick Owens, Managing Director of Idwal, demonstrated how there has been a marked decline since 2017 in the condition of dry bulk, particularly in the handy and supramax sectors, and container ships. 

Analyzing data from Inspectmyship, Owens highlighted the wide range of condition and management scores between technical managers.

“Idwal’s data also shows that technical managers don’t always manage vessels to the same standard consistently within their own managed fleet, underlining the need for shipowners to keep a keen eye on the management of their assets,” said Owens.

Born from a rich maritime tradition, Idwal recognized the challenges clients face in getting vessel inspections carried out accurately, quickly, consistently and cost effectively to help make investment decisions.  In 2017, Idwal launched Inspectmyship, the industry’s first online platform to offer instant online quotations, a global network of qualified surveyors, fast response, competitive pricing and reports that are easy to understand and act on.

Idwal uses smart data analytics to help clients identify and understand their asset’s condition compared to its peers, giving the critical analysis needed for maritime investments.

The Idwal grade is the industry’s only consistent source of standardized ship-condition data available and is becoming the industry benchmark for banks, financial institutions, private equity groups, ship owners, brokers, insurers and charterers. 

The Grade is a culmination of a weighted grading system and an underlying set of algorithms which automatically determine a vessel grade, based on the input inspection data.  Each vessel is inspected to the same standard, including the collection of over 450 data elements, culminating in 21 sub-grades, which ultimately calculates a single final condition grade for every vessel for every ship type in every sector.

With a network of over 200 surveyors performing inspections in over 446 ports in 90 countries, Idwal’s data set of relevant vessel condition & management data now exceeds 2000 ships.

Chris Williams, Chairman of Idwal, said “Idwal’s insight into the condition of the world fleet is vital for shipowners who are looking to compare various ship managers bids for technical management of their ships, banks who are concerned about the performance of their ship manager, and ship managers who may wish to use this data alongside their own in house KPIs as part of their marketing activities.”