Inspections of ships and boats used for commercial purposes

Inspection circle

Over a 5-year period, ships shall be subject to a specific number of inspections. This 5-year period is called the inspection cycle (5-year inspection cycle). The size of the inspections will vary depending on the position of the ship in the inspection ring.

• Revision inspection (R) - The largest inspection is at the beginning of the inspection cycle, and the review is referred to as a renewal inspection (R).

• Interim inspection (I) - Next highest is the intermediate inspection (I) which is carried out in year 2 or 3.

• The annual inspection (A) - is carried out in years 2 and 4. The inspection ring for ships is an international inspection regime as described in Regulation No 466/2023 on ship inspections.

• The beginning of an inspection ring, is when the inspection ring begins and all inspections have been carried out.

• The end of an inspection cycle is when the current inspection cycle ends and a new inspection cycle begins (birthday).

Birthday and inspection window

The anniversary date indicates the date on which inspections shall be carried out each year, and is the date and year of the conclusion of the inspection ring.

At the start of the new register and codification (Skútan) on 15 May 2023, the ships' birthdays were based on the last axle survey.

The inspection window is the space allowance for an inspection to take place each year. The viewing window is usually +/- 3 months from the birthday. This means that the operator usually has a 6-month "window" to carry out inspections. For passenger ships, the inspection window is 3 months which is the margin for operators to have inspections carried out.

Example of an inspection regime for a ship:

The anniversary date is 1 May with the beginning of the inspection cycle in 2021, and the end of the inspection cycle is 2026. For +/- 3-month inspection windows, inspections shall take place each year from February 1st to August 1st.

For further explanations and a graphical presentation of the inspection arrangement (viewing ring, birthday and viewing window), please see the promotional material in a pdf attachment.

Law and Regulation support

• Ship Act no. 66/2021

• Regulation on inspections of ships and their equipment no. 466/2023