DryBMS explained: the Dry Bulk Management Standard for ship managers

What is DryBMS?

DryBMS is a set of standards and a self-assessment questionnaire that lets a ship manager measure its management system against what good practice looks like in dry bulk. DBCE's guidance describes it as a tool to help managers of bulk carriers confirm they are meeting the right standards and to show where resources should go next.

The idea is to move beyond compliance. At the Basic level a company meets mandatory IMO and flag requirements. The three higher levels describe practices that go further: setting clear company parameters for industry guidance, adopting lessons learnt and upcoming rules early, and finally managing risk proactively from leading indicators.

DryBMS assesses the company, not an individual ship. The evidence comes from the office and the fleet together, which is why it sits alongside ship inspections rather than replacing them.

Who runs DryBMS?

DryBMS was developed by INTERCARGO and RightShip with shipowners, managers and risk specialists. In April 2024 the two organisations launched the Dry Bulk Centre of Excellence (DBCE), an independent, not-for-profit body, to administer and develop the framework. RightShip's announcement says DBCE is entirely separate from its founders and has its own management team.

DBCE is a company registered in England and Wales, based in London. Its board is chaired alternately by a representative of its shipowner and manager subscribers and one from its stakeholder subscribers, with board members from RightShip, INTERCARGO, BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping. In April 2026 DBCE announced that Rio Tinto had joined as its first charterer member, aligning its own owner and operator standards with DryBMS.

The online self-assessment platform went live at the end of 2024. Subscribers complete their assessment on the DBCE portal.

How is DryBMS structured?

DryBMS has 30 subject areas grouped into four sections. DBCE's guidance (version 1.1) lists them as follows.

DBCE marks 17 of the 30 as priority subject areas because they carry a higher potential for injury, pollution or poor performance. They include mooring and anchoring, cargo and ballast, bridge procedures, critical equipment, maintenance, permit to work, management of change and incident investigation. Priority areas do not change the score, but DBCE suggests companies may want to improve them first.

What are the four DryBMS levels?

How is a DryBMS self-assessment scored?

Each level in each subject area is scored on a five-point scale: not met (0%), substantial opportunities for improvement (25%), partially met (50%), substantially met (75%) or fully met (100%). The percentages are added and divided by 100, which gives a score out of four for that subject area.

The scoring has a built-in brake. Unless Basic is scored at 100%, the platform counts the Intermediate, Advanced and Excellence scores at only 5% of what was self-assessed. Unless both Basic and Intermediate are at 100%, Advanced and Excellence are also reduced to 5%. In practice, a company cannot score well at the higher levels while a single Basic expectation is unmet.

Completing and submitting the questionnaire is voluntary. DBCE suggests including it in the company's management review and updating it at least annually, and also after a major change to the organisation or the SMS.

Who can see DryBMS results?

DBCE states that all data entered is confidential and only the subscriber can share it. Owners and managers decide whether to share their self-assessment with charterers and other stakeholders. That makes DryBMS different from TMSA 3, where the operator publishes its self-assessment to OCIMF programme recipients.

At launch, DBCE also announced an independent verification process: it would accredit auditors to its own standard, and companies could engage them to audit their self-assessments at the management office. Verification audits are now running; ask DBCE about accredited auditors before you plan one.

How does DryBMS compare with TMSA 3?

The two frameworks share the same logic: staged maturity, measured against evidence, owned by the office. The differences are in scope, ownership and sharing.

Mixed fleets can prepare for both together, because the same records (audits, drills, training, management of change files and incident analyses) serve both. For the tanker side, see our TMSA 3 guide.

How does DryBMS relate to RightShip and vetting?

DryBMS and RightShip's vetting tools are separate. RightShip's Safety Score is calculated from rules and a statistical model using risk factors at vessel, DOC holder, class and flag level; RightShip's published methodology does not list DryBMS as an input. A RightShip inspection under RISQ 3.2 assesses an individual ship. DryBMS assesses the company behind it. RISQ 3.2 does ask two new questions: whether the manager subscribes to DBCE and whether it has completed a DryBMS self-assessment. RightShip states that these answers are not recorded as findings and do not affect the inspection outcome.

They still meet in practice. Many RightShip inspection findings trace back to the same subject areas DryBMS measures: mooring, maintenance of critical equipment, permits to work and familiarisation. A company that has honestly worked through those areas usually has the records an inspector or charterer will ask for. See our RightShip inspection and RISQ 3.2 guide, our post on the RightShip 10.5-year age trigger and the wider ship vetting guide.

What evidence does a DryBMS self-assessment need?

DryBMS asks the people who self-assess each subject area to identify and gather evidence for every expectation and target. DBCE's guidance lists typical sources:

• the previous self-assessment report;
• external and internal audits;
• feedback from customers and stakeholders;
• performance against your own targets;
• inspection findings;
• performance trends and benchmarking information.

Suggested evidence is included in each subject area document, but DBCE is clear that it is guidance only, because companies meet expectations in different ways. The test is whether the record proves the practice, across the fleet, recently.

Where do DryBMS self-assessments usually go wrong?

Most weak self-assessments overstate a level without the records to prove it. Look for these patterns before anyone outside the company does:

1. Higher levels claimed while a Basic item is open. The gating rule then cuts the higher scores to 5%, and an auditor will notice.
2. Procedure taken as proof. A procedure shows intent. The level needs evidence that it was followed.
3. One good ship used as evidence for the fleet. Sample several ships, including the weakest.
4. No owner per subject area. DBCE expects the process to be led by a senior figure, with the people who do the work assessing their own areas.
5. Copy-forward scoring. Last year's answers carried over without fresh evidence.
6. No improvement plan. DBCE frames DryBMS around Plan, Do, Check, Act; gaps should become dated actions with owners.
7. Office records that the ships do not support. The office claims a practice, such as a drill programme or near-miss feedback, that the ships' own records do not show.

We cover the scoring discipline in more detail in TMSA 3 and DryBMS self-assessments: score from evidence.

How should a ship manager implement DryBMS?

1. Subscribe and download the standard from DBCE, and read the guidance and every subject area document.
2. Appoint a senior lead and an owner for each subject area, ideally the manager who runs that process.
3. Run a baseline assessment from evidence, starting with the 17 priority areas.
4. Close Basic gaps first, because of the gating rule.
5. Map each target level to records that already exist in your SMS, audit and maintenance systems, and fill the gaps.
6. Build it into the annual management review and update it after major changes.
7. Decide what to share, and with whom, once the assessment is one you can defend.

Keeping evidence linked to each subject area through the year makes the annual update a review rather than a rebuild. Marine X7's HSEQ X7, Report X7 and DMS X7 modules hold audits, corrective actions, KPIs and controlled documents.

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