A hybrid ship condition assessment & evaluation methodology proposal for condition surveys

Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Clubs are concerned with condition of ships as a potential source of liabilities, as they provide cover for third-party liabilities for shipowners. For many reasons, P&I Clubs may ask for a special survey, which is called as a condition survey, to be conducted on board a ship at the time of applying procedures for entry of a ship to the P&I Club. Since there is a tight relation between the number of claims to be caused by a particular ship and condition of that ship, entry of ships, which are not well-equipped and maintained and/or not satisfactorily operated and managed, in P&I Clubs would increase risk factors for the P&I Clubs. In this context, P&I Clubs have to make risk assessments while they are accepting entry of any ships in their memberships since it is important for them to maintain the quality of the entered tonnage in order to prevent undue risks and losses. In this thesis, a proposal was made for evaluation of condition of ships during the condition surveys conducted on board ships on a mathematical basis by applying Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) methodologies aiming to achieve a quantified result, "Global Score", that reflects the current condition of the inspected ship at the time of the inspection.