Operational guide · Certification & surveys

CDI-M: the Ship Inspection Report for chemical tankers, gas carriers and beyond

The Chemical Distribution Institute's inspection scheme: since 5 February 2024 the tenth edition of the Ship Inspection Report covers five vessel types with a single core questionnaire and a type-specific Chapter 5. It is not mandatory, and like SIRE it decides who gets the fixture.

CDICDI-MShip Inspection Reportvettingchemical tankers

Operational Explanation

The Chemical Distribution Institute runs a ship inspection scheme parallel to OCIMF's SIRE, built for the chemical supply chain. The instrument is the Ship Inspection Report (SIR): a report completed by an accredited inspector during a visit on board and lodged in a database that the scheme's customers consult before chartering.

The practical difference from SIRE is not the form but the customer: here the readers are chemical companies and their terminals. For a chemical tanker trading in Europe or the United States, a recent and clean SIR weighs as much as a place in the OCIMF programme, and the two do not substitute for each other.

Regulatory Reference

No binding instrument requires CDI. It is not convention law, it is not a flag requirement and it is not subject to Port State Control: it is an industry scheme, and what makes it necessary is the charter party, not the rule. The binding requirements the inspection sets out to verify sit elsewhere — the IBC Code for chemical tankers, the IGC Code for gas carriers, SOLAS and MARPOL for the rest.

The current edition is the tenth edition of the Ship Inspection Report, which went live on 5 February 2024, superseding the ninth. The announcement document published by CDI on 26 January 2024 sets the transition rule with no margin: all inspection requests with an appointed inspector from 5 February 2024 are processed as a tenth edition SIR.

The tenth edition widens the scheme beyond chemical cargo. Five vessel categories are covered:

chemical tanker;
LPG tanker;
LNG tanker;
product tanker;
dry bulk carrier.

For ships trading across several cargo types there is a Combination option allowing a multi-type inspection. The stated reason for the widening is to cover the entire global chemical supply chain, not bulk chemical carriage alone.

The structure of the questionnaire changed with the same edition. There is a single core questionnaire for all vessel types, alongside vessel-specific questionnaires: most chapters are generic, while Chapter 5 exists in five versions, one per vessel type. It is the chapter that differs between a chemical tanker and a dry bulk carrier, and it is the one the ship prepares on.

What this page does not establish. How long a report stays valid in the database, and the accreditation requirements for inspectors, are not stated here: they do not come from a CDI document opened and verified for this page, and remain to be read on the CDI official pages. Saying so is better than repeating a second-hand figure.

Scope of Application

Every ship in one of the five categories covered, whenever the charterer or the terminal requires a valid SIR. Participation is voluntary: nothing obliges a ship to be inspected, but without a recent report in the database the ship simply does not make the shortlist for that fixture.

For chemical tankers and gas carriers the scheme coexists with SIRE: two separate archives with two separate customers, and a ship in mixed trade may have to maintain both.

Procedure / How to Complete It

Check which version of Chapter 5 applies to the ship: it is the only part of the questionnaire that changes by type, and preparing on the wrong one is wasted time.
Assemble in advance the documentary evidence the core questionnaire asks of every ship: certificates, records, procedures, training.
Coordinate the inspection date with the statutory survey cycle and with any SIRE inspection, so the same preparation is not repeated twice a few weeks apart.
After the inspection, treat the observations the way ISM non-conformities are treated: cause, action, verification of effectiveness. The report stays on the record, and so does the response.

Practical Example

A chemical tanker that has started loading petroleum products as well is inspected on the chemical tanker profile alone. The next charterer, employing her in the products trade, asks for a report covering that trade: the Combination option exists precisely for this, but it has to be asked for when the inspection is booked, not reconstructed afterwards.

What Typically Goes Wrong

Preparation treated as an isolated event: the ship is prepared for the CDI inspection, then for the SIRE one, then for PSC — three times over the same evidence, with three different outcomes. The second failure is the ship that changed trade and did not change inspection profile: the report is there, it is recent, and it does not cover the cargo she is carrying.

Common Mistakes Mistake Library

Mistake	Consequence	How to avoid it
Preparing on the Chapter 5 of the wrong vessel type	Observations in an area believed to be covered	Confirm the applicable version when the inspection is booked
Report not covering the actual trade after a change of employment	Ship excluded from the fixture despite holding a recent SIR	Ask for the Combination option when the ship trades across several cargo types
Observations closed without cause analysis	The same observations return at the next inspection	Treat them as ISM non-conformities: cause, action, verification of effectiveness

What the PSCO Checks

The Port State Control Officer (PSCO) does not check CDI: the Ship Inspection Report is not a certificate, has no convention basis and need not be produced. The subjects the CDI inspection examines are, however, largely the same ones the PSCO verifies under a different heading — compliance with the IBC or IGC Code, the condition of tanks and cargo systems, records, crew training, emergency procedures. A ship seriously prepared for CDI arrives prepared for an inspection too; the reverse does not hold: passing a PSC says nothing about the score an industry inspector will give.

Operational Tips

Keep a single body of evidence for CDI, SIRE and PSC: the questions change, the documents behind them do not.
When booking the inspection, state precisely which cargoes are actually carried: that is where it is decided which Chapter 5 will be used.
Read the tenth edition observations together with the core questionnaire: many do not depend on vessel type and apply across the fleet.
If the ship trades across several cargo types, consider the Combination option before booking two separate inspections.

Preparation checklist

Study checklist. This summary is for study and preparation. It does not replace the Company's Safety Management System procedures or the official text of the regulation.

Vessel category and Chapter 5 version confirmed at booking
Combination option considered if the ship trades across several cargo types
Core questionnaire evidence assembled and checked
Observations from the previous inspection closed with cause analysis
Date coordinated with statutory surveys and with any SIRE inspection

FAQ

Is CDI mandatory?

No. No binding instrument requires it: it is a voluntary scheme, made necessary by charter parties rather than by regulation.

Which ships does the tenth edition SIR cover?

Five categories: chemical tankers, LPG carriers, LNG carriers, product tankers and dry bulk carriers, plus the Combination option for ships trading across several cargo types.

Does CDI replace SIRE?

No: they are two separate schemes with separate customers. A ship in mixed trade may have to maintain both.

From when does the tenth edition apply?

From 5 February 2024: all inspection requests with an appointed inspector from that date are processed as a tenth edition SIR.

CDI-M: the Ship Inspection Report for chemical tankers, gas carriers and beyond

Operational Explanation

Regulatory Reference

Scope of Application

Procedure / How to Complete It

Practical Example

What Typically Goes Wrong

Common Mistakes Mistake Library

What the PSCO Checks

Operational Tips

Preparation checklist

FAQ

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