As announced on 24 June 2020 key elements of the European Barge Inspection Scheme (EBIS) will transition to OCIMF’s SIRE programme from 1 January 2021. This will create a single barge inspection scheme within Europe.

To oversee the smooth transfer of EBIS into SIRE, the OCIMF/EBIS Transition Taskforce has been established, which includes members of the EBIS Board of Directors, OCIMF Members and secretariat. The first meeting of the taskforce was hosted remotely on 13 August 2020. Representatives of the wider European inland barge industry will be invited to future meetings.

OCIMF/EBIS Transition Taskforce will coordinate all activity relating to the transition of key elements of EBIS, including the EBIS vessel questionnaire templates – technical information templates currently in development by EBIS, Version 9. The Taskforce will also provide oversight on all work relating to:

• Integrating EBIS member applications to become SIRE programme recipients.
• Supporting accredited EBIS Inspectors looking to attain SIRE Cat 3 accreditation for the European region following application and completion of a training course.
• Assisting vessel Owners and Operators in transferring their fleet’s EBIS technical information into the SIRE database.

Over the course of the transition period, training courses and webinars will be hosted by the OCIMF/EBIS Transition Taskforce to support OCIMF member companies, existing EBIS member companies, accredited EBIS and SIRE Inspectors as well as vessel Owners and Operators. Details of the training courses and webinars will follow in due course.

Should you have any queries or require support, please contact Matthew Graham, Barge Advisor, matthew.graham@ocimf.org