OVID Inspector Accreditation

The revised requirements (effective 01 Jan 2021) to become an OVID Inspector are as follows:

Work Experience

1. All Candidates
a. must have at least 48 months of overall sea service. This is actual time served on board as a certificated officer on offshore vessels or on ocean going vessels greater than 500gt.
b. must have at least 18 months of sea service either as a Master, Chief Officer, Chief Engineer or 1st/2nd Engineer. This is actual time served on board offshore vessels only.

2. Candidates with less than 48 months of overall sea service:
a. must be current employees of the nominating member company.
b. must have at least 36 months sea service on offshore vessels only. This is actual time served on board as a certificated officer.
c. must have at least 18 months of sea service as either a Master, Chief Officer, Chief Engineer or 1st/2nd Engineer on offshore vessels only.
d. must have undergone a structured and documented competence development training programme for upstream maritime assurance. This programme must be administered and delivered by the nominating OCIMF submitting member and must include:
i. at least 1 accompanied inspection on each type of vessel for which the candidate is being nominated.
ii. a DP familiarisation course from an industry recognized institute.
iii. either in-house or formal MODU familiarisation training (if nominated to inspect MODUs).

3. Candidates without offshore sea service:
a. must be current employees of the nominating member company.
b. must have at least 48 months overall sea service. This is actual time served on board as a certificated officer on ocean going vessels greater than 500gt.
c. must have at least 18 months of sea service as either a Master, Chief Officer, Chief Engineer or 1st/2nd Engineer.
d. must have undergone a structured and documented competence development training programme for upstream maritime assurance. This programme must be administered and delivered by the nominating OCIMF submitting member and must include:
i. at least 1 accompanied inspection on each type of vessel for which the candidate is being nominated.
ii. a DP familiarisation course from an industry recognized institute.
iii. either in-house or formal MODU familiarisation training (if nominated to inspect MODUs).

Equivalency

1. of the sea service required under sections 2.1.3.1.2, 2.1.3.2.2, 2.1.3.2.3 and 2.1.3.3.3 (of the OVID Inspector Training and Accreditation Guidelines), a maximum of 6 months or pro-rata thereof, may comprise of experience gained as per the equivalence table below.

Upstream Vetting or vessel quality assurance team staff of OCIMF Submitting Member Companies - 12 Months
OIM / Barge Master or Barge Engineer - 18 Months
DPO - 18 Months
Tow-Masters operating in offshore operational environment (e.g. Rig/Barge movers) - 18 Months
Mooring/loading master - 18 Months
Marine superintendent (managing offshore operations) - 18 Months
Maritime Authority Inspectors (e.g. Flag state, Port State Inspectors) - 18 Months

Employees of Vessel Operators are not permitted to become OVID Inspectors.

For those of you who are not employed by an OCIMF member, we will not accept your applications directly. You will need to apply via one of our members, who will then sponsor your application.

Those of you who are directly employed by an OCIMF member, then you can apply directly to us by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with a copy of your CV. If this is approved, you will then be invited to register in our online system, and will receive all of the information that you require.

When we use the word sponsorship, we do not mean this in a financial sense; what it actually means is that one of the OCIMF Member organisations must apply to us on your behalf. If you meet the entry requirements, then you must submit your CV to one of the OCIMF Members; if they are satisfied that you meet the necessary criteria, then they will apply to us on your behalf.

If you are a direct employee of one of the OCIMF Member then you can apply for a seat on one of our courses without sponsorship (as long as you meet the entry requirements) – we may however require approval from a senior manager at your organisation.

We do not accept direct applications from third party candidates – unfortunately, without sponsorship from an OCIMF Member, you will not be able to apply to attend an OVID New Inspector course.

Course fees will be either be the responsibility of yourself or your employer. This should be agreed ahead of time.

The fees to attend a 3 day New Inspector course are £800.

Your course fees cover the cost of the 3 day New Inspector course – this includes lunch and refreshments, and your course materials. Any additional expenses, such as travel and accommodation, are your own responsibility.

We also do not get involved in arranging travel / hotels. If the course is to be held at London, we will provide you with corporate rates for some of our local hotels – however we are not able to make any similar arrangements at the other venues we use for our courses.

Your accreditation will last for 3 years from the date you sat the exam as long as you maintain minimum annual inspection requirements. In addition, you will be required to attend a Refresher course during the last 12 months of your accreditation in order to extend it for another 3 years.

This is a 3 day classroom based course, led by two instructors. You will first learn about the history of OCIMF and OVID; after this, you will learn about our inspection system, how it works, what is involved in an inspection, and then how to carry one out. The 3 day course will end with a 2 part exam, which will test your understanding of the theory involved, and your observational ability.

Within 1-2 weeks of completing the course, you will be advised of your exam marks by email. If you were successful, you will also receive login details for the OVID website; we will then also send you a certificate of accreditation and an ID card by post. You should not plan to carry out any inspections until you have received your ID card, as you must present this at the time of boarding a vessel.

If you fail, then you will be invited to take a resit. You must wait 30 days after your first attempt at the exam before you are able to resit the exams, and the papers that you sit will be different to those you sat at the end of your course.

If you then fail your resit, you will have to wait until 12 months has elapsed from the date of your first attempt, and then will be required to come back and attend the full 3 day New Inspector course. This must be taken after at least 12 months has elapsed, but before 18 months. If you do not attend and pass a New Inspector course during this 12 month timeframe, you will not be allowed to return at a later date.

In the weeks preceding your specific course, you will receive a number of emails from us that contain important information.

The first email that you receive will be an invitation to register in our online system. This is an online registration form that all candidates must complete – you will need to upload a copy of your CV, evidence of the highest seafaring rank you sailed at (or scanned copy of your qualifications if you come from a professional technical background rather than a seafaring one) and evidence of your DP experience. (This last is only required if you indicate in the online application form that you have DP experience).

Once you have submitted your online registration form, we then have to manually verify it; this can take a few days to do at peak times, as all of the OVID courses are administered by just 1 person. If everything is in order with your form, it is then approved, and you receive a confirmation email. You will also receive an email that contains a link to pay for the course online.

Nearer the course, you will receive an additional two emails. The first of these will contain the joining instructions which tell you where to go, and when, and provides some other relevant information. The second email will contain some attachments that you must save or print, and a link to download the course materials.

You must email a passport style photograph to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – this is required for your ID card if you successfully pass the exam. Please see the below document for our photo guidelines.

See below for guidelines for your OVID ID Card Photo.

Once your completed application form has been approved by us, and your online profile is added to one of our courses, you will receive an automated email which contains a link to pay for the course electronically, with a debit or credit card.

If you are not paying for the course, you can forward the email to the relevant person within your organisation who can then click on the link and follow the instructions to pay for the course.

This is our preferred payment method – however we can raise an invoice for your company if there is no way for you pay with debit or credit card. If this applies to you then please provide us with as much notice as possible; this is very time consuming for us, and we only have one person who does all of the administration for the OVID courses.

Please note that in the event of late payment, the exam results will be withheld until the balance is settled.

No – we do not accept any applications from candidates who are employed by vessel operators.

If you have any further questions, or would like to discuss your question in more detail, please feel free to contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In addition, if you commence employment with a vessel operator while you are an accredited OVID inspector, you must notify us so that we can suspend your inspector account. If you do not notify us and continue to carry out inspections, and we become aware of the fact from another source, then you will be disqualified from being an OVID inspector.

To maintain accreditation, inspectors must submit a minimum number of reports to OVID each year. Inspectors who do not submit the minimum number of reports will have their accreditation temporarily withdrawn. The minimum number of inspections required each year in 2018 and 2019 is (4) four.

Failure to meet the minimum inspection requirement
Any inspector who fails to submit the minimum number of inspections during the year will, on the 31 December of the same year, have their accreditation temporarily withdrawn.

Exceptions
Vetters - Inspectors who are direct employees of a submitting member as a vetter, i.e. who are normally involved with the day-to-day administration of a vetting department, will only need to submit a minimum of two inspections each year. The Vetting Manager (or equivalent position) in the submitting member company will be responsible for notifying the OCIMF Accreditation Administrator by email to designate or withdraw vetter status for that member’s direct employees.

Urgent inspection requests - Member companies who urgently need to use an inspector who has only submitted three inspections in the previous calendar year may request a temporary exception for that inspection. The member must submit supporting documentation to the OCIMF Technical Adviser (Offshore) for approval of this exception. The inspector will still need to attend a refresher training course to maintain accreditation (see below).

Regaining accreditation
Inspectors who have submitted three reports in the previous calendar year can regain accreditation by attending and successfully completing an inspector refresher course.

Inspectors who have submitted two or fewer (2,1,0) reports in the previous calendar year must be nominated by a submitting member, attend a three-day new inspector course and successfully pass the examinations for which re-accreditation is sought under the same procedures as applicable for an applicant inspector.

Inspectors who fail to be re-accredited within two years of the date their accreditation was temporarily withdrawn, but who wish to regain accreditation, must be nominated by a submitting member to attend a three-day applicant inspector’s course and successfully pass the examinations for which re-accreditation is sought under the same procedures as a new inspector course.

- You must already be an existing OVID inspector
- Within the last 12 months prior to your accreditation expiry date
- Must be incompliance with the annual minimum inspection requirement

From 1st January 2015 you will be required to complete 4 inspections a year in order to retain your accreditation / attend a Refresher course in future. Again, if you are a direct Marine Assurance employee of an OCIMF member then you will only need to complete 2 inspection per year. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to advise us if this applies to you.

Unfortunately, you cannot attend a Refresher course unless you have completed the required number of inspections. If your accreditation expires, then you must attend a full 3 day New Inspector course for which there is a charge applicable.

You must attend a Refresher course to extend your accreditation. If your accreditation expires, then you must attend a full 3 day New Inspector course for which there is a charge applicable.

There is no charge for the Refresher course. Refreshments and lunch are provided, but your travel costs and accommodation are your own responsibility.

This is a 2 day course. The course doesn’t go into as much depth, as it aims to just refresh your memories, and give you a summary of the recent changes that you should be aware of – both in terms of OVID itself, and also relevant legislation / industry requirements.

You must email a passport style photograph to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – this is required for your ID card if you successfully pass the exam. Please see the below document for our photo guidelines.