IMO Numbers, what are they?

[Bob van Leeuwen]

Is there any place, ore some sort of registry of IMO numbers (not Marine Traffic, but the actual governing body) online? In the case of the ss Rotterdam my guess is that the number is still assigned to the ship, but it is inactive, since she is a building, not a ship. I would want to take here out to see, most of not all WTD's are wide open and can not be closed and without some serious work.

[Peter Mugridge]

There is this?

https://gisis.imo.org/Public/Default.aspx

[Lynda Bradford]

IMO registration discussion started on the QE2 Photos in Dubai topic can continue on this interesting IMO Numbers topic.

[Bob van Leeuwen]

There is this?

https://gisis.imo.org/Public/Default.aspx

Thank you Peter, I have just looked up the ss Rotterdam, and she is registered as a Accommodation Vessel/Stationary, this confuses me, since she is also register as a building, if I have some spare time I will try to see if I can go to Rotterdam City Hall or Archive to see what she actually is. If she is technical a vessel, there would be rules that need to be applied I would presume, although it might be different is she is a Stationary vessel. The company to which the ship is registered has 0 ships listed, so a Stationary vessel might be an inactive status.


Queen Mary has the same status, fun fact: between 1940 and 1947 she was a troopship instead of General Cargo/Passenger Vessel. Makes me wonder when she became a troopship if here actual registry was changed, or somebody just filled that in when they entered it original.


QE2 is a differente story, she is still registered as a Passenger/Cruise vessel, with the flag of Vanuatu, registered to a company called 'QE2 Shipping LLC', which has also 0 vessels under ownership.


Did a little bit more searching, and according to them Queen Mary 2 and QV is registered to Carnival PLC in Southampton, whilst QE is registered to Cunard Line LTD.

[Peter Mugridge]

Did a little bit more searching, and according to them Queen Mary 2 and QV is registered to Carnival PLC in Southampton, whilst QE is registered to Cunard Line LTD.

Hmmm... that's interesting...

[Bob van Leeuwen]

Could just be a error in entering, altrough it seems to be the official website for IMO.


Cunard Line LTD is a Bermuda registered company, but it's company address in in Southampton, has one ship as owner (QE), and 3 as operator.

[Roy Warrender]

Just found this About QE2 Dated 11/2/18

https://www.marinelink.com/news/maritime/qe2-shipping-llc

[Thomas Hypher]

From the Wikipedia article (I linked in a previous post) the IMO number stays with the hull for its lifetime apparently - so SS Rotterdam would have hers for example.

[Clydebuilt1971]

Was QE2's IMO number not on top of the bridge ?

Gav

[Trevor Casey]

Was QE2's IMO number not on top of the bridge ?

Gav

I think that is her call sign..

https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,5799.msg93019.html#msg93019

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

There is a lot of knowledge to be gained by reading the earlier postings on this thread.

For instance :

As well as their call sign, every ship has an IMO number

Queen-Elizabeth2 - IMO 6725418
http://www.vesseltracker.com/en/Ships/Queen-Elizabeth-2-6725418.html

As confirmed in a much later posting :

That's pleasantly surprising  . QE2 appears to still have hers: IMO 6725418

Also some valuable general information :

Every powered ship over 100 gt has an IMO number. This hull number never changes, despite changes in ownership. Just been looking through my photo database but can not locate the folder with the numbers I have recorded for the ships I have sailed on. They are welded into the ships steel structure at various locations below deck (ie, on bulkheads, machinery spaces), prominent positions on deck, etc. Plenty of info on Google.

And the all important link to much more :

'the International Maritime Organization – is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.'

http://www.imo.org/Pages/home.aspx

Paraphrasing Skilly then, the IMO number is the equivalent of the chassis number of a car; it never changes, even though the registration (or in the case of a ship the call sign) may change.

[June Ingram]

Many thanks, Isabelle !