RightShip Inspections with RISQ 3.2
Rightship’s new inspection regime, RISQ 3.2, will come into force from 1st of February 2026.
Among other things, RISQ 3.2 has attempted to include more focused assessments and fewer questions to reduce the administrative burden. However, this also means each question will be probed at a deeper level to reveal skill and competency gaps on board. Between now and 1st January 2027, Rightship inspections will apply to vessels 10 years and older, bringing more and more vessels under its purview.
What can we do to ensure the industry is ready for this new regime?
Guide2Inspections: A Quiet Shift Happening
Something interesting is happening at sea.
It’s happening quietly, on night rounds, during coffee breaks, and between routine jobs — where seafarers are voluntarily subscribing to Guide2Inspections™.
No instructions. No pressure. No compulsion. No persuasive advertisements.
And that, in my opinion, is the most powerful indicator of a change the maritime industry has seen in years.
What is Guide2Inspections
We at Navguide Solutions, have worked on the concept of Guide2Inspections for years now.
Guide2Inspections™ is a visual, inspection-cum-mentoring approach designed to help seafarers maintain vessels at consistently high standards—every day, not just before inspections. We work closely with vessel owners and managers to implement our app and to establish a culture of compliance on board.
Instead of relying solely on text-based checklists, it shows how to actually self-inspect and maintain a certain area of the vessel with short videos, guidance photos, and games.
An area-wise self-inspection workflow is set up for every crew, aligned with regimes like RightShip RISQ 3.2, SIRE 2.0, PSC, AMSA, and USCG. Every senior or junior officer can self-inspect their own areas, capture real photo evidence, and build true inspector vision—look at the vessel like a senior inspector will. For shipowners and managers, the dashboard provides real-time visibility into vessel condition and risk trends.
On one hand, it acts like a mentor for the seafarer, while on the other, giving the vessel manager central control over their entire fleet and a predictable outcome of inspections.
RISQ 3.2 Changed the Rules
With RISQ 3.2, RightShip Inspections have moved decisively away from surface-level compliance. Tick-box answers won’t survive anymore. Memorised procedures won’t impress.
And “we always do it like this” is now a liability.
RISQ 3.2 expects: Context, Understanding, Consistency and Behaviour-based compliance
Which is fair. But here’s the uncomfortable truth — we never truly equipped seafarers for this shift. The tools we have provided to the Master and Chief Engineer to maintain compliance go only halfway.
We are still handing them:
- Text-heavy checklists
- Lengthy manuals, publications, and PMS Instructions
- One-off classroom courses that are often forgotten.
- And hoped that onboard mentorship would fill the gaps
Sometimes it does. Often it doesn’t. When we blame the ship staff for not following procedures, we often don’t realise that procedures only give half the instructions.
I cannot explain to you
- how to tie a knot, or
- which part of the sea chest is prone to corrosion or
- which part of the lifeboat floating block is like to crack
…using TEXT instructions! And 99% of all instructions travel in text format!
Seafarers Are Choosing to be different
For the first time, we’re seeing something new.
Junior officers, engineers, even cadets are paying out of their own pockets to use Guide2Inspections™ — even though we never reached out to them—not because someone told them to, but because it gives them something they’ve been missing for years:
👉 Confidence and Clarity
Confidence that:
- They actually understand their area
- They can answer inspection questions logically
- They know what an inspector sees
- They are better suited for career development and peaceful in their workplace.
Guide2Inspections™ doesn’t just say what to check.
It shows how to check, where to look, and what good actually looks like — through visual guidance, short videos, and real inspection logic.
That’s a game-changer for a generation that learns visually, contextually, and fast.
From Anxiety to Predictability — At a Personal Level
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. When we have a culture shift on board, when our 3rd officers and 3rd Engineers not only see a non-compliance, but are also empowered enough to speak up, it leads to safer ships and inspection performance is just one of the many consequences of that.
When a Third Officer walks the bridge with Guide2Inspections™ open, he or she is seeing the ship the way a RightShip inspector under RISQ 3.2 would see it
That does something powerful. It shifts from “hope we’re fine” to “I know where we stand.”
What This Means for the Industry (Beyond One App)
This trend should make shipowners, managers, and regulators pause.
If young seafarers are voluntarily adopting a system that:
- Improves competence
- Reduces anxiety
- Builds inspection thinking
- Makes promotions merit-based
- And aligns directly with RISQ 3.2 and RightShip Inspections
…then the industry should ask: Why did it take so long?
Guide2Inspections™ acts like a super-smart, super-energetic, silent onboard Training Superintendent — one who never gets tired, never judges, simply guides every rank from where they are to the point of excellence. For the shipowner, this drives standardisation across the fleet. It is like an auditor on board every vessel, constantly sending back reports of progressive improvement.
RISQ 3.2 Isn’t the Threat — Unpreparedness Is
RISQ 3.2 didn’t raise the bar unfairly. It exposed what was already missing.
The encouraging part? Seafarers themselves are stepping up. That’s not compliance. That’s culture change.And that is exactly where the future of RightShip Inspections under RISQ 3.2 is heading.
