Tanker crews that step up their own inspections before SIRE 2.0 examinations are seeing measurably better outcomes, according to an analysis by maritime technology provider Kaiko Systems reported on 17 September 2026.
Kaiko Systems reviewed roughly 1,300 SIRE 2.0 inspection reports drawn from 25 fleets, covering inspections conducted from late 2024 through to August 2026, and used that dataset to compare pre-inspection practices with the formal inspection results.
The company’s analysis found a clear association between more rigorous self-inspection and improved performance under SIRE 2.0, while also noting a counterintuitive detail: the vessels judged strongest in the review were not always those with the fewest recorded deficiencies.
The dataset and timeframe
The sample examined by Kaiko comprised around 1,300 individual SIRE 2.0 reports from 25 distinct fleets and spanned inspections carried out from late 2024 until August 2026, giving the company a multi-year view of how operator behaviour and inspection outcomes have evolved since SIRE 2.0’s wider rollout.
Key observations
From that body of material Kaiko concluded that crews conducting tougher, more thorough self-inspections ahead of formal SIRE 2.0 visits tended to achieve better inspection results, a pattern that emerged across the fleets in the review and was highlighted in the company’s analysis as reported.
The analysis also emphasised that simple tallies of deficiencies do not necessarily identify the best-prepared ships; Kaiko found that some of the top-performing units did not have the smallest number of prior deficiencies, indicating that the character and handling of findings, and the rigour of pre-inspection processes, can be as important as raw defect counts.
Kaiko Systems, which operates in the maritime technology sector, framed these outcomes as evidence that enhanced internal checks and more exacting pre-inspection practices can materially influence how a vessel fares under SIRE 2.0, although the published summary does not set out a single checklist or prescriptive sequence that guarantees success.
For tanker operators and fleet managers the findings reinforce a behavioural point: the way crews prepare for SIRE 2.0 assessments, and the discipline applied to addressing shortcomings before an inspector arrives, appears to affect inspection outcomes as much as historic defect records do.
The report’s timeframe, extending from late 2024 to August 2026, captures the early operational period of SIRE 2.0 and offers a cross-section of fleets adapting to the regime; Kaiko’s review therefore provides an early empirical indicator of how self-inspection practices have correlated with inspection performance in that interval.
Taken together, the material supplied by Kaiko and carried by reports points to a pragmatic conclusion for the tanker sector: investing time and resource in tougher self-inspection routines ahead of SIRE 2.0 visits has been associated with better inspection outcomes in the dataset examined, and the relationship between recorded deficiencies and perceived vessel performance is not straightforward.
Operators seeking to judge where to focus efforts should note the source’s caveated findings and the specific period covered by the analysis; Kaiko’s review supplies a data-led starting point for revising pre-inspection regimes but does not replace fleet-specific assessment or tailored safety management measures.