Recently, the “Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) Module” within the Inventory‑Management System (VIMS) launched by Centre Testing International Group Co., Ltd. (CTI) has officially gone online for trial operation.
According to Suzhou Cosc Marine Machinery Co., Ltd., VIMS is a system developed by CTI for shipyards, ship‑owners, equipment suppliers and other stakeholders. It supports IHM management throughout the entire ship lifecycle, as well as real‑time calculation, monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse‑gas (GHG) emissions. The system consists of two components: the IHM Module and the GHG Module.
Boasting a powerful back‑end database, the system can automatically give early‑warnings for previously‑detected hazardous substances. It delivers robust data analysis and assessment capabilities, provides management data including global waste‑disposal recommendations and carbon‑trading information, and conducts value‑based analysis.
The IHM Module serves different functions for various users. As introduced by Suzhou Cosc Marine Machinery Co., Ltd., ship‑owners can collect and upload IHM documents, Material Declarations (MD), Supplier’s Declarations of Conformity (SDOC) and other relevant documents via this module. They may transfer access permissions to expert organisations when necessary.
Single‑vessel management users can leverage the module for single‑ship administration, real‑time IHM updates, uploading of ship‑related certificates, and recording of implementation processes for ship‑hazardous‑material management procedures.
For fleet‑management users, the module enables assignment of user permissions for individual vessels, evaluation and management of responsible persons for relevant plans, and cost estimation for hazardous‑substance waste disposal.
Equipment suppliers can prepare and upload MD and SDOC in compliance with customers’ hazardous‑material management procedures. Ship‑breaking yards may view IHMs, prepare ship‑recycling plans, assess hazardous‑material disposal costs, and register and upload disposal records through the module.
In summary, Suzhou Cosc Marine Machinery Co., Ltd. states that as a full‑lifecycle inventory‑management system for vessels, VIMS can export complete ship‑level datasets for hand‑over to ship‑owners. It organises large volumes of cumbersome and complex data into well‑structured categories tailored to user requirements. This brings substantial convenience to shipyards, ship‑owners, equipment suppliers and other parties, and further improves overall work efficiency.