Founded in 2000 as a result of the Quality Shipping Campaign, Equasis—short for the Electronic Quality Shipping Information System—is a free, public database designed to enhance the transparency of maritime safety. Operated by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and backed by maritime authorities from countries like France, Japan, the US, Norway, Canada, and others, Equasis collates inspection and safety data from over 50 providers, including classification societies, P&I mutual clubs, port state control regimes, insurers, and the IMO .
What makes Equasis powerful?
- Comprehensive coverage: It documents details on more than 85,000 merchant ships over 100 GT—essentially the global merchant fleet—covering ownership, flag, IMO number, classification society, P&I club, inspection history, and deficiencies .
- Credible sources: Data is drawn regularly from port state control regimes (e.g. Paris MoU, Tokyo MoU, USCG, Indian Ocean MoU, etc.), classification societies, insurers, vetting schemes, and AIS data (since MarineTraffic joined the effort in 2016) .
- Non-commercial, public-driven: Funded entirely through public money and accessible free of charge once registered, it’s unbiased—designed to inform users rather than profit .
How it works for users:
- Ship and company lookup: Enter a ship’s name or IMO number (at least 3 characters are required) to view its safety history, classification record, ship owner and manager, as well as inspection and deficiency logs.
- History tracking: See chronological changes in flag state, ownership, classification, and inspections—useful for identifying ships with problematic track records.
- Quick alerts: Users can follow vessels or companies in “My Equasis” for updates on changes in safety or inspection status. (Note: this follows a voluntary approach with usage limits, while bulk monitoring of large fleets is intentionally restricted) .
🔎 Interesting Fact
Equasis began after a major concern: in 1999, the sinking of the tanker Erika off France spotlighted how fragmented ship safety records had been. Equasis was created to centralize and democratize access to vessel data, ultimately improving maritime safety through transparency.
