October 13, 2026
From Process to Practice: Cargo Compliance for Port Inspections and Beyond
With Sami Koponen, Product Owner, NAPA Checklist, Safety Solutions, NAPA.
Another year, another Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC). This time, the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the Paris MoU are checking cargo-securing compliance from 1 September to 30 November 2026. Port State Control (PSC) officers will record any deficiencies, and certain shortcomings may result in the ship’s detention.
The questionnaire makes the focus clear: not only whether procedures exist, but whether crews follow them.
Shipowners and operators will want to prioritize cargo securing while inspections are underway, but good practice matters on every voyage, not only during a campaign. Compliance protects seafarers and ships, and it also protects the bottom line. Deficiencies can raise a ship’s risk profile and lead to more frequent inspections or other penalties. Detention can also cause reputational damage, knock-on schedule changes, and delays that may lead to loss-of-hire costs.
Using a questionnaire, inspectors will check compliance with the cargo loading, stowage, and securing requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The questions cover the ship’s Cargo Securing Manual (CSM), crew familiarity with it, the condition of securing equipment, documentation and heavy-weather procedures.
NAPA Checklist and NAPA Logbook support the procedural and record-keeping side of cargo securing compliance. They help shipowners and operators show that:
- The crew’s actual practice reflects the CSM, and the crew understands the full required process.
- Securing inspections and maintenance are carried out and accurately recorded, in the form inspectors expect to see.
- The crew follows and logs heavy-weather procedures in the Safety Management System (SMS).
Turning Cargo Securing Compliance into Daily Practice
The NAPA Checklist and NAPA Logbook do not replace the CSM or the SMS. They turn existing, approved procedures into guided, recorded routines that the crew follows. In short, they close the gap between an approved procedure on paper and a crew that demonstrably follows it, with the records to prove it.
Digitalization can also ease the administrative load on board, giving crews back time and headspace for safety-critical work. That matters: in a 2024 survey by the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) on the impact of decarbonization, 54% of seafarers said it was adding to their workload and 44% reported higher stress.
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NAPA Checklist has been developed by collaborating with officers and crew from leading cruise and expedition operators, including HX Expeditions. This deep understanding of crews’ actual processes and needs ensures the digitalization genuinely improves seafarers’ workflows and supports implementation. It walks crew through each procedure in the correct order and records every action automatically with a timestamp and the name of the person who completed it. Completed tasks then feed directly to NAPA Logbook, eliminating duplicate data entry.
NAPA Logbook was introduced across 20 Anthony Veder vessels, and the first wave of engine-room logbook automation saved 8,000 hours across the fleet. Overall, it reduced administrative time by an average of 14%, more than 2,000 hours per vessel annually. Automation has reduced manual data entry, validation has reduced corrections, and information can be entered once and reused for multiple purposes.
Ultimately, safety is not just about having the right processes in a manual, but also about ensuring they are thoroughly understood, followed, and reported on not only during inspection periods but also during day-to-day operations. Digitalization through tools such as NAPA Checklist and NAPA Logbook can help crews implement best practices during this CIC period and beyond.
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Q2: Are relevant officers familiar with the contents of the cargo securing manual in respect of container stack weight and tier weight distribution as well as weight limitations for tank top, hatch covers and decks?
A: NAPA Checklist can help build the weight limits and distribution rules directly into the relevant tasks, so the crew apply the correct figures at the point of work and are guided through them in the right order every time. Repeated, structured use reinforces familiarity and leaves a record that the limits were applied, rather than relying on memory.
Q3: Is the Cargo Securing Manual being complied with?
A: NAPA Checklist turns the CSM requirements into guided, step-by-step tasks the crew follows in the correct order, with the approved content built into each step. NAPA Logbook records completion, so compliance is demonstrable and evidenced, not assumed. Together they close the gap between an approved manual and one that is actually followed and can be proven.
Q7: Are the fixed and portable cargo securing devices in good condition, compatible with the ship and maintained in accordance with the inspection and maintenance scheme contained in the CSM?
A: The physical condition of the gear is a hardware matter, but proving the inspection and maintenance scheme is actually followed is a record-keeping matter, and that is NAPA’s territory. NAPA Checklist structures the inspection routine; NAPA Logbook timestamps and signs each inspection and maintenance action, providing a complete, retrievable audit trail showing the scheme was followed.
Securing Cargo at Sea and in Heavy Weather
Q8: Has the cargo been secured throughout the voyage so as to prevent the loss of cargo overboard?
A: NAPA Checklist could provide the en-route and heavy-weather securing procedures and checks to help ensure that cargo securing is verified across the voyage, not just at departure. NAPA Logbook records each verification and any re-securing action with timestamps, so the ship can show that securing was maintained continuously, evidence of compliance.
Q10a: Does the ship have procedures or arrangements in place, within the ship’s safety management system, covering heavy weather navigation, including precautions to prevent the loss of cargo?
A: The procedures themselves live in the ship’s SMS, and NAPA does not author them. An SMS is unique to the ship and its operations. What NAPA Checklist does is turn those approved procedures into live, executable workflows the crew can run, so a written procedure becomes an operational one that is visibly in use rather than sitting in a manual.
Q10b: Where they exist, have the procedures covering heavy weather navigation, including precautions to prevent the loss of cargo, been complied with?
A: NAPA Checklist could help guide the crew through the heavy-weather procedure step-by-step as conditions and regulations demand. It also records the actions taken and when, providing the evidence that the procedure was not only in place but followed.