SeaSignal — Maritime Fleet Intelligence

The Data

Three federal datasets. Two scores per entity.

USCG publishes Port State Control inspection data, deficiency records, and operational control orders across separate systems. The Army Corps of Engineers maintains the only complete registry of U.S. commercial vessel operators and fleet characteristics. Neither is joined to the other at the operator level. SeaSignal does the assembly.

The result: a vessel-level compliance score and an operator-level fleet score for every scored entity — joined to 11 years of waterway commodity flow data for corridor-level context.

USCG PSIX — Port State Control

Weekly FOIA release from USCG's MISLE database covering all vessel inspections, deficiency citations by system and component, and operational control orders including detentions. 247,816 inspections across three years. MISLE Vessel ID as the stable vessel-level key.

Federal

WTLUS Fleet Registry — Army Corps

Waterborne Transportation Lines of the United States — the Army Corps of Engineers' annual survey of every commercial vessel and operating company on U.S. navigable waterways. 45,740 vessels across 7 vessel types. Coast Guard number as the join key to PSIX inspection records.

Federal

WCSC Waterway Commerce — Army Corps

Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center cargo tonnage and trip counts across all U.S. navigable waterways, 2013–2023. 589,868 data points covering commodity flows by waterway, traffic type, and direction. Mississippi River System, Houston Ship Channel, Ohio River, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and Great Lakes.

Federal

MARAD Fleet Change Log

Maritime Administration U.S. Flag Merchant Fleet change log tracking vessel entries, exits, operator transfers, and program status changes for oceangoing vessels of 1,000 GT and above. IMO number as the join key for the oceangoing fleet.

Federal

Intelligence Signals

What the federal inspection record reveals.

Fire Safety Deficiencies

The highest-consequence deficiency class

USCG System 07 — the single largest deficiency category in the database with 13,947 citations. Fire safety deficiencies on a commercial vessel represent direct threat to crew, cargo, and hull. SeaSignal weights fire safety, propulsion, and life saving appliance deficiencies at 3.0x in the severity model.

USCG PSIX · System 07 · 2022–2026

Propulsion & Machinery

The deficiency that stops a vessel cold

System 13 — 11,810 propulsion and auxiliary machinery deficiencies across the dataset. An operator with propulsion deficiencies across consecutive inspection cycles is statistically more likely to face a casualty event or port detention. SeaSignal surfaces the recidivism pattern explicitly.

USCG PSIX · System 13 · 2022–2026

Operational Detention

USCG has stopped this vessel from moving

COTP Orders and IMO-related detentions are the most severe USCG enforcement action short of revocation. A detention means the Coast Guard determined the vessel was unsafe to operate. SeaSignal applies a hard score floor on any vessel with a detention in the scoring window regardless of other components.

USCG PSIX · Operational Controls · 2022–2026

Unresolved Deficiencies

Cited, documented, and not corrected

USCG deficiencies carry a resolution deadline. Unresolved deficiencies — where the due date has passed without documented correction — represent active compliance failures. SeaSignal tracks unresolved rate as a percentage of total deficiencies, weighted by system severity.

USCG PSIX · Deficiency Resolution · 2022–2026

Deficiency Recidivism

Same vessel, same problem, multiple years

A vessel cited for structural deficiencies in 2023 and again in 2024 and 2025 is a different risk profile than a first-time citation. SeaSignal scores recidivism at the vessel level by counting the number of distinct inspection years with deficiency findings — the primary driver of operator-level risk scores.

USCG PSIX · Multi-Year Pattern · 2022–2026

Structural Conditions

Hull integrity under federal scrutiny

System 02 — 6,920 structural deficiency citations with the highest unresolved rate of any category (469 open). Structural deficiencies on tank barges and bulk freighters are a direct liability signal for hull underwriters and asset-based lenders with vessel collateral exposure.

USCG PSIX · System 02 · 2022–2026

Fleet Coverage

How much of the fleet has federal data

An operator with 80% of their fleet inspected over three years provides a statistically meaningful compliance picture. An operator with 20% inspected does not. SeaSignal incorporates fleet coverage rate as a scoring confidence modifier — higher coverage = higher confidence in the operator score.

WTLUS Fleet Registry · USCG PSIX Join Rate

Waterway Exposure

Risk in context of corridor volume

An operator with propulsion deficiencies on the Houston Ship Channel — 332M tons of petroleum throughput annually — represents different systemic risk than the same deficiency on a low-volume waterway. SeaSignal maps operator base location to WCSC waterway commodity flow data for exposure context.

WCSC Waterway Commerce · 2013–2023

Inspection Confidence

Score reliability by inspection history depth

Vessels with only one inspection in the scoring window receive a confidence ceiling of 85 — a single clean inspection is insufficient to assign a perfect score. Vessels with 3+ inspections can reach 100. This distinguishes genuinely clean operators from data-thin entities that haven't yet accumulated a federal record.

USCG PSIX · Inspection Count · 2022–2026

Coming Soon

Waterway Commerce Intelligence.

11 years of commodity flow data across U.S. navigable waterways — 589,868 data points from the Army Corps of Engineers' Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center. The only federal source tracking what moves on America's inland waterway system, at the waterway and commodity level, annually from 2013 forward.

Mississippi River System

670M → 567M tons

Annual throughput declined 15% from 2014 peak to 2023. Coal collapse, drought impacts, and Panama Canal competition driving structural volume loss on the most critical inland waterway in the country.

Houston Ship Channel

269M → 332M tons

23% growth from 2013 to 2023, driven by the shale revolution and expanding U.S. crude and refined products export capacity. The single highest-volume port corridor in the U.S. waterway system.

Coal & Lignite National

1,433M → 732M tons

49% decline from 2013 to 2023 as utilities shifted to natural gas and renewables. The steepest commodity volume decline in the waterway system — visible in barge traffic on the Ohio River before EIA data confirmed it.

The Score

Two scores. One entity chain.

SeaSignal produces a vessel-level score and an operator-level score. Vessel scores roll up to operator scores via fleet ownership. Both are 100-point composites on the same tier scale.

Vessel scores reflect individual inspection history. Operator scores reflect fleet-wide compliance pattern, recidivism concentration, and detention rate across all vessels in the operator's fleet.

Compliant

Score 75–100. Minimal deficiency history, low unresolved rate, no detentions. Clean federal inspection record.

Monitor

Score 50–74. Elevated deficiency frequency or severity, above-average unresolved rate, or borderline fleet coverage.

Elevated

Score 25–49. Multiple high-severity deficiency systems, significant unresolved rate, or prior detention with recidivist pattern.

Critical

Score 0–24. Active detention history combined with high deficiency density and unresolved citations. Immediate flag for underwriters and lenders.

SeaSignal Score and risk tiers are AuditPoint derived analytical outputs — not official USCG or Coast Guard designations. All inputs sourced from USCG FOIA data and Army Corps federal datasets with vintage disclosed per output.

Vessel Score Components

Deficiency Frequency

Total deficiencies per inspection across the scoring window. Vessels with zero deficiencies score 100 on this component; vessels averaging 10+ deficiencies per inspection score 0.

30%

Deficiency Severity

Weighted deficiency score by USCG system. Fire safety, propulsion, life saving appliances, structural, and emergency systems weighted 3.0x. Documentation and administrative deficiencies weighted 2.0x.

25%

Unresolved Rate

Open deficiencies as a percentage of total citations. Applies only to actual deficiency records — not inspection rows without findings. Age-weighted toward open items past due date.

25%

Detention History

Any COTP Order or IMO-related detention in the scoring window applies a hard score floor. Single detention: maximum 40. Two detentions: maximum 20. Three or more: maximum 0 on this component.

20%

Operator Score Components

Fleet Deficiency Rate

Average vessel score across all inspected vessels in the operator's fleet. Weighted equally across the fleet population.

35%

Recidivism Rate

Vessels with deficiency findings in two or more distinct inspection years as a percentage of vessels inspected. Persistent multi-year deficiency patterns indicate systemic compliance failure.

25%

Fleet Coverage

Percentage of fleet vessels with USCG inspection data in the scoring window. Higher coverage = higher score confidence. Used as a data confidence modifier.

20%

Detention Rate

Detained vessels as a percentage of total vessels inspected. Any detention rate above 10% significantly impacts the operator score regardless of other components.

20%

Who Uses It

Built for high-stakes maritime decisions.

Insurance & Underwriting

Maritime Underwriters

Screening commercial vessel fleets before writing hull, P&I, or cargo policy. Federal inspection history surfaces compliance risk not visible in vessel surveys or broker submissions.

Score a fleet before binding a hull or P&I policy

Flag vessels with active USCG deficiencies in the class underwritten

Identify operators with recidivist propulsion or structural deficiency patterns

Credit & Lending

Trade Finance Lenders

Sizing vessel fleet risk before committing credit to fleet acquisitions, working capital facilities secured by vessel assets, or maritime operator financings where fleet condition is a material underwriting input.

Score borrower fleet at origination for federal compliance exposure

Identify CRITICAL or ELEVATED vessels in collateral pool

Monitor portfolio operator scores quarterly for deterioration

Procurement & Operations

Supply Chain Risk Teams

Vetting vessel operators before committing cargo to a fleet. An operator with ELEVATED or CRITICAL vessels on your trade lane represents operational continuity risk if a detention or casualty event grounds a shipment mid-transit.

Screen vessel operators before booking cargo on domestic waterways

Identify carriers on your trade lane with active USCG deficiencies

Flag operators with detention history on high-volume corridors

Sample Findings · June 2026

What 247,816 inspections tell us.

Sourced directly from USCG federal inspection data. Verifiable. Citable.

USCG PSIX · Passenger Vessel · T BIRD

Deficiencies across 2 inspections. 21 unresolved. 1 detention. SeaSignal Vessel Score: CRITICAL 8.0.

USCG PSIX · 2022–2026

USCG PSIX · Great Lakes Bulk Fleet

27.5

Deficiencies per vessel across American Steamship Co.'s 13-vessel Great Lakes bulk carrier fleet — the highest deficiency density of any scored operator in the database.

USCG PSIX · American Steamship Co. · 2022–2026

USCG PSIX · Government Operator

Unresolved USCG deficiencies across Washington State DOT's 20-vessel ferry fleet — a state government agency operating essential passenger and vehicle service.

USCG PSIX · WA State Ferries · 2022–2026

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Per-vessel and per-operator screening for individual decisions and portfolio-level fleet reviews. No subscription required. Scope and pricing confirmed within one business day.

Every output traces to a named USCG inspection record. Methodology fully disclosed.

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Coverage U.S. commercial fleet · domestic & foreign-flagged

Vessels scored 44,241

Fleet operators scored 2,192

Data sources USCG PSIX · WTLUS · MARAD

Inspection data refresh Weekly (USCG PSIX FOIA)

Fleet registry refresh Annual (WTLUS)

Vessel screen Custom · inquiries@auditpoint.ai

Fleet batch Custom · volume pricing available

SeaSignal.

Three federal datasets. Two scores per entity.

What the federal inspection record reveals.

Waterway Commerce Intelligence.

Two scores. One entity chain.

Built for high-stakes maritime decisions.

What 247,816 inspections tell us.

Request SeaSignal intelligence.