An anchorage operation can be running correctly and still fail an inspection, if the team attending can’t produce the right document fast enough when asked. Authorities boarding mid-operation aren’t there to relitigate whether the STS plan is sound — they’re checking whether the paperwork behind it is in order and can be shown on request.
That means having the notification of arrival, the STS operation plan, and the pollution prevention certificate all accessible on the attending vessel or launch, not filed back at the office. It means the permit for that specific anchorage and that specific operation — not a general operating licence — because Malaysian authorities check the operation-specific approval, not just that the company is registered to operate.
Crew lists, certificates of competency for the mooring master and STS superintendent, and the pre-transfer conference record round out what’s typically requested. None of these are difficult to produce in principle. What actually causes friction during an inspection is when they exist somewhere, just not in the hands of the person being asked for them.
The teams that clear inspections quickly aren’t necessarily the most compliant on paper — they’re the ones who treated “ready to show” as part of the job, not an afterthought to it.