Emergency Contact Inspection and maintenance guidance for ship cranes Home Latest updates News Inspection and maintenance guidance for ship cranes 13 Nov 2020 Download Sign up for alerts The Club would like to thank Captain Purnendu Shorey, Director of Offing Marine & Offshore Consultants for his invaluable contribution to this article. Offing Marine specialise in a range of maritime activities including surveys, towage approvals and casualty investigations. Both the Club and the wider maritime industry have observed a rise in crane related incidents, with both the number and cost of claims contributing to this increased figure. The root causes for many of these incidents have largely been attributed to inadequate maintenance. Shipboard procedures, on board practices and crew training have evolved over the years switching from generic, to equipment specific; with the widespread introduction of ship specific procedural systems . Despite these enhanced systems, crane incidents continue to occur, often ranging in severity and involving numerous ship and crane types. What are some of the common issues affecting inspections and the maintenance of cranes and the associated lifting equipment? In the experience of Offing Marine, a possible contributing factor to crane failures is inadequate inspections and maintenance. Unlike other machinery such as main engines, auxiliaries and purifiers, inspections of cranes may be infrequent, largely dependent upon the type, usage and the scope of the ship operation. Another common factor relates to the oversight of the manufacturer’s manual and/or instructions when carrying out routine inspections or maintenance. Additionally, there may also be a tendency for over reliance on regulatory inspections carried out by external inspectors and entries in the Register of Lifting Appliances, which may give a false sense of confidence in the condition of the equipment, especially if a significant period of time has elapsed since the last ins