According to the Dutch Inspectorate for Traffic and Public Workd (IVW) masters of a ship often sail with another ship alongside their own vessel without having checked whether the combination can still be manoeuvred sufficiently. This endangers own and other vessels and constitutes a violation of regulations.
IVW can check from the survey certificate whether the master has performed a manoeuvrability test. The certificate has two versions: either only the propelling ship or both ships have functioning steering and engine design.
In the first case, point 15 of the certificate should contain: ‘formation 11’, with possible limitations concerning load, direction and draught. When both ships haven functioning engine and steering design, the ship has to be equipped with sufficient bolders (point 14.3 of the certificate) to attach the ship alongside.
