2026 PSC Concentrated Inspection Campaign on Cargo Securing — A Practical Prep Guide

The Window: 1 September – 30 November 2026

Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU are running a joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on cargo securing across ports in Europe and the Asia-Pacific for three months from 1 September 2026. The regulatory basis is the CSS Code (Code of Safe Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing), SOLAS Chapters VI and VII, and your own vessel's flag-approved Cargo Securing Manual (CSM). The official inspection questionnaire hadn't been published at the time of writing — but the areas it will cover are already well documented, and worth acting on now rather than waiting for the final checklist.

What PSC Officers Will Actually Check

1. The CSM itself — is it the flag-approved original, genuinely vessel-specific (not a generic template copied from a sister ship), and current relative to any recent equipment or cargo-type changes? Inspectors will also test whether officers can actually locate the relevant securing arrangement inside it, not just confirm it exists.
2. Physical condition of lashing equipment — rods and bars checked for corrosion and serviceable threads; turnbuckles for operability and functioning locking devices; twistlocks against manufacturer wear limits; chains for broken or damaged links; wire lashings against the 10% broken-strand discard criterion; webbing straps for cuts, fraying or UV degradation; shackles correctly sized and secured.
3. Actual cargo stowage against the CSM — does the cargo on board match the securing pattern the CSM specifies, are lashing angles within CSS Code limits, and is there a logged pre-departure securing check in the deck log, not just an assumption one happened?
4. Crew knowledge — officers and crew should be able to demonstrate real understanding of securing procedures, CSM content and equipment discard criteria, not just point at the manual.
5. Documentation — voyage-specific securing checklists, deck log entries confirming pre-departure checks, heavy-weather log entries where applicable, and equipment inspection/maintenance records.

A Practical Prep Checklist Before September

• Locate, review and update the CSM now if anything about the vessel's configuration or cargo types has changed since it was approved.
• Conduct a real physical audit of every securing device against its own discard criteria — not a walk-past visual check.
• Remove and log any condemned lashing equipment before the CIC window, not during it.
• Establish (or confirm) a pre-departure securing checklist that's aligned with the CSM, and make sure it's actually being logged, not just known informally.
• Brief the crew and record the training — an inspector asking a deckhand to explain the discard criteria and getting a confident, correct answer is worth more than any amount of paperwork.
• Monitor the Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU websites for the official questionnaire once published.

Try the Decision Simulator

You're the Chief Officer with a CIC-window port call coming up. Play through the real prep decisions and see whether you'd sail through the inspection or end up flagged.

Test Your Knowledge

Think you've got this covered? Put it to the test in Crew Connect's free Knowledge Checker — try a quick cargo round and see how you score.

Related Reading

• This week's full regulatory roundup