Custom app for inland vessel certificate monitoring
Appfront builds certificate monitoring for inland shipping companies and skippers: for each vessel, all certificates, surveys and permits with their expiry dates, the survey scheduled and the yard or survey body arranged before anything lapses, the records on board for an inspection and ashore for the fleet. So a vessel doesn't sit idle because a certificate expired last week.
What is an inland vessel certificate monitoring app?
An inland vessel runs on certificates: the survey certificate, the tonnage certificate, the ADN certificate for dangerous goods, the inspections of fire extinguishers and life-saving equipment, the permits for the navigation area, and the crew documents. Each has an expiry date and an issuing body that renews it, and a survey that has to be planned weeks in advance. Certificate monitoring tracks that per vessel, schedules the survey in time and ensures the records are on board when an inspector asks for them.
Without monitoring, the expiry date sits in a folder on board and in a spreadsheet the technical department updates when someone remembers. A certificate that expires while the vessel is under way means lying idle until the survey is done, and a survey body has no room at short notice. For a fleet of twenty vessels with ten certificates each, that is two hundred expiry dates that nobody holds in their head.
We build custom solutions because the monitoring has to fit your fleet, your navigation area and your technical department: which certificates per vessel type, which survey bodies and yards you use, how maintenance is scheduled and where the documents are kept now. A generic document management system knows nothing about the survey cycle, nor about records that must work on board without coverage.
Certificates per vessel
Every certificate, survey and permit with its expiry date, issuing body and document, per vessel and across the fleet, with the crew documents alongside.
Survey scheduled in time
A signal well before the expiry date, the inspection scheduled at the yard or body, linked to maintenance, and the status until the new certificate is in place.
Records on board
All valid documents on the tablet on board, without coverage, ready for an inspection. Ashore, an overview of the fleet and what is about to expire.
How we build your inland vessel certificate monitoring app
We start with the fleet: which certificates each vessel needs, what was overdue in recent years, and how inspections are scheduled now.
For each vessel type, the certificates, inspections and permits with their cycles, the bodies and yards involved, and where the documents are kept now. We look at what was overdue.
For each vessel, every certificate with its expiry date, issuing body, document and history, plus the crew documents. Entered from the folders, with a check on what is missing.
Deadlines per certificate, alerts to the technical department and the skipper, the inspection scheduled at the yard or body and linked to maintenance.
The tablet app without coverage, the fleet overview on shore, the integration with your maintenance system, and then management and new vessels.
What an inland vessel certificate monitoring app actually does
The components below come up at almost every shipping company. Which ones you need depends on your vessels, your operating area and your maintenance system.
Certificate register
For each vessel, every certificate with its expiry date, number and the document itself, with the history of renewals.
Inspection cycle
For each certificate type, the cycle and the lead time, so the alert arrives while the inspection still has to be booked.
Alerts
An alert to the technical department and the skipper at the deadline that suits the certificate, and a list of what expires within ninety days.
Inspection planning
The inspection scheduled at the yard or body, linked to maintenance and the sailing plan, with the status until the new certificate is received.
Records on board
All valid documents on the tablet, without signal, in the order an inspector asks for them. Expired documents clearly marked.
Crew documents
Boating licences, service records and medical examinations per crew member with expiry date, linked to the vessel they are aboard.
Who we build an inland vessel certificate monitoring app for
The app is intended for anyone who keeps vessels in service, where an expired certificate means a vessel laid up.
Shipping companies with multiple vessels
Dozens of vessels, each with its certificates, maintained by a technical department. The fleet overview and the alerts are the core.
Tanker and dangerous goods shipping
ADN certificates and inspections with strict cycles. The inspection cycle and the on-board records for a check matter most.
Independent skippers
One vessel, all certificates in one folder. The register and timely alerts are what is needed; the rest can stay small.
Technical managers
Management for multiple owners. The overview per owner and the integration with maintenance are the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about vessel certificates. For certificates of crew and drivers on the road, there is our page on certificate monitoring for CPC and driving licences, and for inspections of equipment on board, our page on an inspection app with certificate management. You can read about our approach at software development.
For the office, with the whole fleet, inspection planning and crew certificates, there is our software for inland vessel certificate monitoring.
If you also want to monitor crew certificates, see our crew scheduling software for passenger shipping.
If your vessels are sea-going ships or yachts classed with a classification society, see our software for class certificate expiry dates.
Why choose Appfront for your inland vessel certificate monitoring app?
Certificate monitoring is a calendar with consequences. The app knows the cycle, works backwards and makes sure the survey is scheduled before anyone thinks about it.
Working backwards from the expiry date
A survey needs weeks of preparation and a slot with the inspection body. The signal arrives at the lead time that suits the certificate, not a week before.
The file travels with the vessel
An inspector comes on board and asks for documents, and there is no signal. The tablet holds everything, in order, with expired items highlighted.
Crew is part of the picture
A vessel with valid certificates and a skipper whose licence has lapsed is also laid up. Both sit in the same monitoring.
Security and privacy in an inland shipping certificate monitoring app
The app holds vessel documents and personal data of crew members, including medical examinations. Access is set up by role: the skipper sees his vessel and his own documents, the technical department sees the fleet, and medical data only as a date, not its contents. Every access is logged.
The app runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups. Integrations with maintenance systems and voyage planning use their own keys, which can be revoked per integration.
Frequently asked questions about an inland shipping certificate monitoring app
Questions shipping companies and skippers ask before getting started.
It keeps track, per vessel, of all certificates, surveys and permits with expiry date, issuing body and document, sends a signal in good time, schedules the survey at the yard or inspection body, makes the file available on board without signal, and shows ashore, per fleet, what is about to expire. Crew documents are included.
Every document with an expiry date: the certificate of survey, the measurement certificate, ADN certificates, inspections of fire extinguishers, life-saving appliances and gas detection, permits per navigation area, and the crew's licences, service books and medical examinations. For each certificate type you set the cycle and the preparation time.
Per certificate type, at the lead time the survey requires: a survey that needs a yard visit and an appointment with the inspection body gets a longer signal than an annual fire extinguisher inspection. The list of what expires within ninety days is always ready for the technical department.
Yes. The valid documents are on the tablet on board and are updated as soon as there is a connection. During an inspection, the skipper shows the records in the order the inspector asks for, with expired documents flagged so there are no surprises.
Yes. Inspections that require a shipyard visit are linked to the planned maintenance, and the new certificate returns to the register after the inspection. We connect to the maintenance system you already use; the app does not become a second maintenance plan.
Yes. Boatmaster certificates, service books and medical examinations per crew member, with expiry dates, linked to the vessel they are aboard. A vessel with a crew member holding an expired document appears in the same overview as a vessel with an expired certificate.
For one vessel with ten certificates, yes, if someone looks at it every month. Custom work makes sense for a fleet, for certificates with long lead times, for a file that must be available on board without signal, or if an expired certificate has laid up a vessel in recent years.
Never again a vessel laid up because a certificate expired?
Tell us how many vessels you operate, which certificates were late in recent years and which maintenance system you use. We will show you what the register, the signals and the file on board look like.