Vessel Management Software

Vessel management software gives the office a remote overview of every vessel, and gives ship and shore one shared record: certificates, hours of rest, safety management, planned maintenance and the day-to-day evidence that inspectors and auditors ask for. WaterTightVM is built for UK operators and for fleets of any size, including classed vessels, from a single vessel to a whole fleet.

One shared record for ship and shore

If you run a fleet, you already keep most of these records. They just tend to live in different places: a spreadsheet for crew certificates, a folder of PDFs for statutory documents, the chief engineer's maintenance list, paper rest sheets, and a shared drive of safety circulars. Vessel management software puts those records in one system that ship and shore both use.

The test is simple. Can a DPA, technical superintendent or fleet manager answer "Are we compliant today?" for every vessel without phoning the master? If the answer depends on an inbox search or a spreadsheet that was last updated last week, that is the gap the software is meant to close.

WaterTightVM is vessel management software built by a UK Master Mariner. It is designed around the records that come up at Port State Control, ISM audits, class surveys and charterer vetting, not around a generic asset-management tool adapted for ships. Shore staff use the fleet dashboard. Crew use the mobile crew app. Both work from the same vessel record.

For a practical buying guide aimed at operators who still run on spreadsheets, see the vessel management software buying guide.

From a single vessel to a whole fleet

Some operators have a few people covering the whole office. Software has to save time rather than add another system to feed.

WaterTightVM works at any fleet size, including classed vessels. Typical operators include workboats, crew transfer vessels, pilot boats, aquaculture support, ferries, offshore and renewables support, and mixed managed fleets. You can start with the area that causes most pain — certificates, hours of rest, safety or planned maintenance — and add other modules on the same vessel record as you retire each spreadsheet.

UK operators have particular records to keep: STCW hours of rest, MCA guidance and Marine Guidance Notes, Workboat Code evidence where it applies, LOLER examinations on lifting gear, and MARPOL record books. The sections below set out how WaterTightVM covers those areas, and where the limits are.

What WaterTightVM covers

The modules below are the core of the WaterTightVM platform. Each row links to a fuller solutions page.

The full module list is on the platform page.

Book a 30-minute call See the platform

Certificates for the ship and the crew

Expired or missing certificates are among the simplest things for an inspector to check, and among the most avoidable findings. Vessel management software should hold crew certificates and vessel statutory and class certificates in connected registers, and show what is expiring across the fleet.

In WaterTightVM, crew add certificates in the crew app as a photo or PDF, choosing from a fixed list of certificate types. There is no OCR: the file is stored as uploaded, and the type and dates are the ones entered in the record. Expiry alerts go to the certificate holder only, by push and optional email, at about 90, 30 and 7 days, on the expiry day, and once overdue. The office can see what is expiring across the fleet on the web dashboard.

Crew profiles, assignments and safe-manning positions sit together in crew management, so an unfilled billet or an expiring qualification can be seen before a vessel sails short. WaterTightVM does not check names against the MCA CoC register.

STCW hours of rest

STCW sets minimum rest hours for watchkeepers. In practice, rest records are checked routinely at Port State Control and flag inspections. A record that looks "tidied up" after the fact is treated as a safety management failure, not as proof of rest.

Good hours of rest software records hours on the day, checks the rolling limits as they are entered, and shows a non-conformity while there is still time to change the watch. In WaterTightVM's work and rest hours module, crew record and confirm their own hours. The engine checks them against STCW A-VIII/1 only. It does not apply a separate MLC rule set, and it does not have fishing-vessel rules.

Breaches show as in-app flags, and the office can export a non-compliance PDF. There are no instant alerts when a breach occurs. Edits need a reason. The module does not capture a formal signature or a master countersign, so you still need to endorse the record in line with your flag state's requirements. A fleet card shows open violations from the last 7 days; there is no fleet-wide grid. Work and rest hours is available on Starter plans and above.

For a fuller account of the rules and what to look for, see the hours of rest software guide.

ISM safety management

The International Safety Management (ISM) Code has been mandatory under SOLAS chapter IX since 1998. Inspectors, flag auditors and vetting teams keep returning to the same evidence: drills, risk assessments, incident reports, non-conformities, safety meetings, and controlled documents that have actually been read on board.

WaterTightVM's safety management module gives the DPA and HSEQ team the ISM safety status of every vessel, including open incidents, drills and shore review queues. Related modules cover drills and exercises, risk assessments, incident reporting, and SMS documents. Read-and-acknowledge for ISM documents is on all plans. Acknowledgements for SMS documents need a connection; they are not completed offline.

Fleet notices are for pushing circulars and guidance out to the fleet. Crew confirm they have read notices in the app; the office sees, by name, who still has not. The Safety hub also shows a "% crew up to date" card. Notice acknowledgements are not completed offline.

Planned maintenance

On many vessels the planned maintenance system still lives in a notebook or a spreadsheet the office cannot see. The ISM Code expects a company to maintain its ships and keep records of that maintenance. If overdue jobs and open defects are invisible until someone asks, that is usually where the next finding comes from.

WaterTightVM's maintenance management module is on every plan. It shows the PMS backlog and defects across every vessel, with an equipment register, job checklists, spare parts and defects sitting alongside it. Crew can complete PMS sign-offs and checklists in the crew app after preparing in port, including when the signal drops, and those queued changes sync when the vessel is back online with the app open.

LOLER lifting equipment

Workboats, aquaculture vessels and offshore support craft often carry cranes, A-frames, davits and loose lifting gear. On UK ships, the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment) Regulations 2006 require thorough examination of lifting equipment exposed to conditions causing deterioration, on a timetable set by the regulations or an examination scheme.

WaterTightVM's LOLER lifting equipment module is optional. It works alongside the planned maintenance system and is included from the Advanced plan up. It keeps a register of lifting appliances with inspection types, certificates, batch sign-off and reminders before examinations fall due. Planned maintenance itself remains on every plan, whether or not LOLER is enabled.

MARPOL record books and statutory records

Port State Control and flag inspections also look at the statutory record books a vessel is required to keep, including MARPOL-related oil and garbage records. Those books are of little use to the office if they only exist as paper on board.

WaterTightVM's statutory record books module keeps those operational records in one place, shared between ship and shore. It is a system of record for the entries your crew make. It does not replace your flag or class requirements for certified electronic record books, and it does not file anything with the MCA or any other authority.

Inspection readiness is a web-only add-on: live KPIs, evidence gaps and one-click evidence packs for PSC, ISM and MARPOL inspections, plus guided checklists a person signs off. It does not produce a score, it is not a mobile tool, and it does not guarantee or certify compliance. Nothing in the pack auto-passes a checklist point; a person has to sign it off.

UK and MCA context

UK operators work under MCA guidance as well as international conventions. When the agency issues a new Marine Guidance Note, you need to get it to the vessels, brief the crew and be able to show that it reached them. Fleet notices are built for that kind of distribution: the office can see, by name, who has not yet confirmed a read.

For workboat operators, the transitional arrangements for Workboat Code Edition 3 end on 13 December 2026 for the first cohort of vessels still certificated under earlier codes. WaterTightVM can hold the evidence a surveyor will ask for, including vessel and crew certificates, SMS acknowledgements, drills, maintenance history, and Workboat Code records such as a company checklist, a three-year review and pre-departure briefings. A Workboat Code certificate can be recorded as a vessel certificate with your own title and dates; there is no built-in Workboat Code certificate type.

Examination and certification stay with your certifying authority. WaterTightVM does not file anything with the MCA or the MAIB. If you run UK workboats, the article on fleet management software for workboats covers Edition 3 in more detail.

Works where the vessel works

Software only helps if the crew use it. The WaterTightVM mobile crew app is how crew record hours, maintenance and documents on board. It is available as an iOS TestFlight beta (invite via hello@watertight.app). Android isn't available yet.

The crew app works where the vessel works. Best online, keeps working offline, syncs when back in range. With offline sync, crew prepare in port, then work offline: hours of rest, PMS sign-offs and checklists, safety rounds, drills and more queue on the phone and sync when you're back online. Sync happens on reconnect while the app is open. Certificate uploads and notice or SMS document acknowledgements need a connection.

What to look for when you compare vessel management software

If you are choosing a system for your fleet, these questions matter more than a long feature list:

1. Which rules does it actually check? WaterTightVM's hours of rest engine checks STCW A-VIII/1 only. Ask every vendor the same question.
2. How does offline work? Crew should be able to prepare in port and keep recording the jobs that queue offline. Ask what still needs a connection.
3. Do ship and shore share one record? Certificates, jobs, defects and rest hours should not exist in two versions that drift apart.
4. Can you start with one area? You should be able to begin with certificates or hours of rest this week and add modules later.
5. Can you produce evidence when asked? Rest-hour exports, certificate registers, incident reports and, if you use it, inspection evidence packs should come from live data.
6. Will the crew use it? A crew app that matches how people already work on board beats a desktop portal nobody opens at sea.

WaterTightVM is built for that list. It does not try to be a full shipping ERP: it does not include expenses capture, catering OCR, a CoC register check, or CII or FuelEU features, and it does not file with the MCA or the MAIB.

Before a port call or inspection

A manager using vessel management software should be able to answer these questions from the office, in minutes rather than days:

1. Are any vessel certificates or surveys due in the next 90 days?
2. Does every crew member on board hold valid certificates for their position, and is safe manning met?
3. Are there overdue planned maintenance jobs or open defects, especially on safety-critical equipment?
4. Are drills up to date, and are there open incidents or non-conformities waiting for shore review?
5. Do the hours of rest records show any STCW breach flags that have not been dealt with?
6. Have the latest circulars and MGNs reached the vessel, and who has not yet confirmed a read?
7. Were deficiencies from the last inspection closed with evidence?

If answering any of those means phoning the master, that is where the next finding is likely to come from. Where you use the inspection readiness add-on, it is designed to pull live KPIs and evidence together on the web so those gaps can be fixed at source.