Stage 1 — Qualify (before you send anything)
Rising search interest across dozens of individual ship management company names — Wallem up 130%, OSM up 110%, Thome up 110%, Dockendale up 250%, Goodwood up 180% in the month to 22 August 2026 — tells you something simple: owners are shopping. What the search data cannot tell you is how to compare what you find.
This is a framework, not a ranking. The right manager for a five-ship handysize owner trading the Atlantic is the wrong manager for a two-ship LNG owner, and neither would suit a cruise operator.
| # | Check | Evidence to request |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Managed fleet by segment | Vessel list by type, size, age |
| 2 | Vessels under full technical management vs crew-only | Split by mandate |
| 3 | Years managing your specific vessel type | Named references in segment |
| 4 | Flag states currently served | DOC list |
| 5 | Class societies worked with | Named surveyor relationships |
| 6 | Office locations vs your trading area | Map against typical port rotation |
| 7 | Ownership structure of the manager | Beneficial ownership disclosure |
| 8 | Financial standing | Audited accounts or bank reference |
| 9 | ISO 9001 / 14001 / 45001 and ISM DOC | Certificates with scope |
| 10 | Insurance — professional indemnity | Certificate and limit |
Stage 2 — Safety and compliance record
| # | Check | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | PSC deficiencies per inspection, 3 years | Raw inspection log, not summary |
| 12 | Detentions, 3 years, with root cause | Full reports including closed items |
| 13 | Detention rate vs Paris MoU average of 4.18% (2025) | Their calculation method |
| 14 | Major non-conformities in ISM audits | Audit reports |
| 15 | LTIF and near-miss reporting rate | Definitions used |
| 16 | Serious casualties, 5 years | Investigation reports |
| 17 | Vetting performance (tankers): SIRE 2.0 observations | Observation counts per inspection |
| 18 | Cargo claim record | Frequency and severity |
| 19 | Pollution incidents | Any, with outcome |
| 20 | Class condition of class items outstanding, fleet-wide | Current list |
On item 13: a manager quoting a detention rate far below 4.18% may be excellent, or may be counting differently. Ask how the denominator is built.
Stage 3 — Crewing depth
| # | Check | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Officer retention rate and the formula used | Written definition + 3-year series |
| 22 | Senior officer retention specifically | Master/CE separately |
| 23 | Manning agency network and audit cycle | Audit reports |
| 24 | Cadet berths committed per year | Numbers, not intentions |
| 25 | Cadet-to-officer conversion rate | vs industry 1:3.8 |
| 26 | Nationality mix available for your trade | With wage implications |
| 27 | Overdue relief rate | Last 12 months |
| 28 | Payroll mechanics and allotment reliability | Sample (redacted) payslip flow |
| 29 | Training spend per seafarer per year | Budget line |
| 30 | Welfare and mental health provision | Named provider, usage rate |
With a global officer shortfall of 39,100 and 113,735 more officers needed by 2030, items 21–25 are the strongest predictors of whether your ships will be crewed in three years.
Stage 4 — Technical capability
| # | Check | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Vessels per superintendent, by segment | Current, not policy |
| 32 | Superintendent attendance days per vessel | Last 12 months |
| 33 | PMS platform and owner access | Live demo on a real vessel |
| 34 | Overdue critical maintenance rate | Fleet-wide, last 12 months |
| 35 | Last five dry docks: budget vs actual, days vs plan | Full comparison |
| 36 | Spares sourcing policy | OEM vs aftermarket rules |
| 37 | Condition monitoring capability | Techniques used, coverage % |
| 38 | Hull and propeller performance management | Method and results |
Stage 5 — Systems, compliance capacity and commercial terms
| # | Check | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 39 | EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime capability | Named team, process, cost |
| 40 | MRV/DCS verification track record | Verifier and findings |
| 41 | Cyber: IACS UR E26/E27 approach, new and existing tonnage | Plan and evidence |
| 42 | Data export format and ownership on termination | Contract wording |
| 43 | Full fee schedule including all add-ons | Written, itemised |
| 44 | Supplier rebate and commission policy | Written disclosure |
| 45 | Named superintendent and crewing manager for your ships | CVs, and meet them |
Item 45 is not administrative. Ship management is delivered by individuals. Two owners with identical contracts and the same manager routinely get different outcomes because they have different superintendents. Meet the people who will actually hold your ships before you sign.
Scoring it
Weight the five stages by what actually drives your risk:
| Stage | Suggested weight |
|---|---|
| Safety and compliance record | 30% |
| Crewing depth | 25% |
| Technical capability | 20% |
| Systems and compliance capacity | 15% |
| Commercial terms | 10% |
Fee at 10% will feel wrong to a CFO. It is correct. The fee is 2–4% of the cost you are trying to control.
The site visit
Do it. Ask to see:
- The operations room during a working day, not a scheduled tour
- A live PMS record for a vessel of your type, opened at random
- The crewing office and the certificate verification process in action
- A real monthly owner's report for a comparable vessel, redacted
- The emergency response setup, and ask when it was last exercised for real
inspection benchmarks from the Paris MoU Annual Report 2025; workforce figures from BIMCO/ICS 2026; search-interest movements from the supplied Google Trends export, Worldwide, 22 Jul – 22 Aug 2026. Reviewed by the Zeaclub Editorial Team, 24 August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How many managers should I shortlist?
Three to five for a competitive tender. More than five wastes everyone's time and produces worse proposals, because good managers deprioritise crowded tenders.
How long does a tender take?
Six to twelve weeks from RFP to award for a small fleet, plus a further two to three months to handover.
Should I pick a large group or a boutique?
Large groups bring purchasing scale and regulatory absorption. Boutiques bring senior attention. The determining factor is usually whether your fleet is large enough to be strategically important to a big manager — a three-ship account inside a 700-ship group gets what is left over.
Where can I find a list of ship management companies?
Company registers, class society records, flag state DOC lists, and maritime business directories such as [Zea Directory](https://directory.zeaclub.com/) are the practical starting points.