{"id":127,"date":"2019-09-19T12:56:47","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T12:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/?page_id=127"},"modified":"2026-04-09T11:48:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:48:26","slug":"vessel-inspection","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/vessel-inspection\/","title":{"rendered":"Ship Inspection"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Ocean Ships<\/h3>\n<p>All inbound ocean ships are subject to the following Ship Inspection program.\u00a0 Inspections are conducted jointly by the SLSMC (Canada) and the GLS (U.S.) to ensure that ships meet all requirements set out in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/seaway-handbook\/\">Seaway Handbook<\/a> including requirements concerning Ballast Water Management.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Enhanced Ship Inspections (ESI &#8211; physical ship inspection) by Seaway Ship Inspectors will be carried out once every two navigation seasons<\/li>\n<li>A self-inspection may be permitted in the interim navigation season, subject to satisfactory performance<\/li>\n<li>Passenger ships will be subject to an annual ship inspection<\/li>\n<li>The ESI or self-inspection is required on the first transit of the navigation season<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The following outlines the inspection process:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Agents must provide to the Seaway Ship Inspectors by email (email: inspecteursvm@seaway.ca and to vtc@dot.gov) an initial notice of inspection of at least 120 hours (5 days) prior to the ship\u2019s arrival at CIP 2.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Subject to satisfactory performance, a Ship Self-Inspection may be permitted in the interim season. Seaway Ship Inspectors will inform the ship\u2019s agent whether an ESI or a self-inspection is required.<\/li>\n<li>For an Enhanced Ship Inspection (ESI &#8211; physical ship inspection):\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li>Once confirmed that an ESI is required the Ship\u2019s agent is to provide a 24 hour notice on ship arrival to the Seaway Ship Inspectors<strong> (e-mail: inspecteursvm@seaway.ca and to vtc@dot.gov) <\/strong>for inspection purposes.<\/li>\n<li>Ship\u2019s agent to provide a 2 hour confirmation to SLSMC Operations Control Centre (ext. 2232).<\/li>\n<li>ESI will be conducted between 06:00 and 22:00<\/li>\n<li>Inspections for Quebec City will be based on Ship Inspector availability.<\/li>\n<li><strong>ESI for new ships will be done during daylight only hours.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>For Self-Inspections for foreign ships:\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li>Ship to complete a <a href=\"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Foreign-Ship-Self-Inspection-Report.pdf\">Foreign Ship Self-Inspection Report<\/a> and submit electronically to <strong>inspecteursvm@seaway.ca<\/strong> and to <strong>vtc@dot.gov<\/strong>. (Report and directions to complete report are on website, under <em>Forms<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Foreign <\/strong><strong>Ship Self-Inspection Report form must be filled out and returned to SLSMC at least 120 hours prior to arrival at CIP 2<\/strong>. Upon successful review of the self-inspection report, the ship will be granted direct entry into St-Lambert Lock.<\/li>\n<li>For foreign ships subject to self-inspection and direct entry only, ballast water inspections will still occur, however they will either take place between St. Lambert Lock and Cote St. Catherine Lock, between Snell Lock and Eisenhower Lock, or through other administrative measures.<\/li>\n<li>In addition, ships with deck cargo shall provide stowage plan showing maximum height of deck cargo and visibility calculations confirming visibility meets IMO\/SOLAS regulations.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>A ship can also be subject to inspection by special request from the owner, operator or shipyard, to ensure compliance with Seaway Handbook requirements.\u00a0<strong>Please consult the schedule below for a list of applicable fees.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>All inbound foreign flagged ships that will be transiting the U.S. locks (Snell and Eisenhower) must also submit pre-entry information at least 96 hours prior to westbound entry of the St. Lawrence Seaway at C.I.P 2 in Montreal. More information on this requirement can be obtained by contacting the U.S. Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation\u2019s Operations Supervisor at (315) 764-3292, and by consulting our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/news-and-information\/notices\/\">Seaway Notices<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Inland Ships<\/h3>\n<p>Inland domestic ships which are approved by the Seaway for the \u201cDomestic Ship Self-Inspection Program\u201d and are ISM certified and have a company quality management system, must submit the \u201cDomestic Ship Inspection Report\u201d, every 2 navigation seasons and not later than 30 days after \u201cfit out\u201d.\u00a0 A \u201cDomestic Ship Self-Inspection Report\u201d must be submitted electronically to nrshipinspectors@seaway.ca.<\/p>\n<p>Inland domestic ships not participating in the \u201cDomestic Ship Self-Inspection Program\u201d are subject to a Seaway inspection every 2 navigation seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Tug\/barge combinations not on the \u201cSeaway Approved Tow\u201d list are subject to Seaway inspection prior to every transit of the Seaway unless provided with a valid Inspection Report for a round trip transit.<\/p>\n<p>A tall ship, passenger ship, or ship of an unusual design is subject to Seaway yearly ESI.<\/p>\n<p>The ESI or self-inspection is required on the first transit of the navigation season<\/p>\n<p>More details on Ship Inspection requirements can be found in Section 79 in the Practices &amp; Procedures of the Seaway Handbook.<\/p>\n<h3>Schedule of Fees<\/h3>\n<table width=\"100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\">A &#8211; Ships <strong>Inspection inside the Normal Area<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Normal areas are defined as follows:<\/strong><br \/>\nWelland Canal between CIP 15 and CIP 16<br \/>\nMLO Section from St. Lambert Lock to Iroquois Lock and within the confines of the Port of Montreal<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Normal working hours (Weekdays 0815 to 1630 hours)<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\"><strong>No Charge<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Outside normal working hours:<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>First visit<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\"><strong>$1025<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Second &amp; subsequent visits (during the same transit upon which the first inspection took place)<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\"><strong>$512.50<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ship\u2019s staff completes a self-inspection report and submits the report to the SLSMC. The SLSMC will review the report during normal working hours to verify the information submitted<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\"><strong>No Charge<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table width=\"100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\"><strong>B \u2013 Ship Inspection outside the Normal Area<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>The charges for this service will be based on a per diem rate for each day that the inspector is out of the office, plus all travel expenses, as noted below:<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Per day (including travel time)<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\"><strong>$1230<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>All expenses (travel, meals and overtime, if applicable)<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 15%;\"><strong>At cost<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>For further details, contact:<\/h3>\n<p>Marine Services<br \/>\nThe St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation<br \/>\n202 Pitt Street<br \/>\nCornwall, Ontario<br \/>\nCanada K6J 3P7<br \/>\nTel: 450-672-4111 ext. 2306 or ext. 2158<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ocean Ships All inbound ocean ships are subject to the following Ship Inspection program.\u00a0 Inspections are conducted jointly by the SLSMC (Canada) and the GLS (U.S.) to ensure that ships meet all requirements set out in the\u00a0Seaway Handbook including requirements concerning Ballast Water Management. Enhanced Ship Inspections (ESI &#8211; physical ship inspection) by Seaway Ship<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":125,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-127","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ship Inspection - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ocean Ships All inbound ocean ships are subject to the following Ship Inspection program.\u00a0 Inspections are conducted jointly by the SLSMC (Canada) and the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/vessel-inspection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ship Inspection - 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