Privacy Policy & Information Governance

In the execution of maritime surveys, statutory inspections, and hydrostatic calculations, we collect and process:

• Vessel Particulars: IMO number, call sign, flag state, deadweight/gross tonnage, hydrostatic displacement tables, tank sounding capacity plans, and classification society records.
• Instruction & Billing Records: Contact names, official corporate email addresses, shipping agency accreditations, and mobile phone numbers for operational coordination.
• Field Evidence: High-resolution ultrasonic thickness readings, photographic hold inspection logs, bunker custody transfer receipts, and countersigned gas-free safety certificates.
• AIS Vessel Telemetry: Publicly broadcast maritime VHF transponder telemetry (GPS coordinates, speed over ground, heading, draught readings) ingested solely to coordinate surveyor launch boat dispatch and berth attendance.

2.1 Private Client Vaults: Survey reports, detailed hydrostatic computations, bunker figures, commercial cargo valuations, and internal damage assessments are prepared strictly for the Instructing Client. Under no circumstances do we disclose proprietary findings or charter party terms to competing commercial entities or unauthorized third parties without prior written consent or mandatory flag-state statutory subpoena.

2.2 Public Portfolio & Verification Boundary: The public Projects Portfolio (/projects) and Public Verification Desk (/verify) display only class-admissible technical records (vessel name, IMO, port, attendance dates, attending surveyor, and certificate SHA-256 hash) authorized by appointing parties for public maritime registry authenticity. Private commercial rates, charterer identities, and unredacted cargo manifests remain locked in encrypted client vaults.

3.1 Electronic payments for survey retainers, mobilization fees, and certified displacement packages are processed securely through Paystack (a certified PCI-DSS Level 1 service provider).

3.2 V-Marine servers do not store, log, or have access to raw credit/debit card numbers, CVV security codes, or Mobile Money (MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AT Money) authorization PINs. All financial transactions are tokenized and protected under TLS 1.3 encryption.

4.1 Offline Field Storage: For surveyors inspecting vessels at outer anchorage without satellite internet, the application caches measurement drafts, sounding sheets, and checklist items in local browser IndexedDB storage. This data is synced and cleared once a secure cloud handshake is established.

4.2 Authentication Cookies & Session Security: We use strictly necessary, HttpOnly, SameSite=Lax session cookies to maintain secure role-based access. In accordance with maritime bridge security standards, sessions are actively monitored: idle sessions trigger a warning after five (5) minutes and are automatically terminated after seven (7) minutes.

4.3 Rate Limiting & Defense: Platform endpoints are protected by sliding-window rate limiters (60 requests/minute for public visitors, 200/minute for authenticated clients, 400/minute for field sync workers) to mitigate DDoS attempts and automated scraping.

Certificates generated through V-Marine MSP are stamped with irreversible SHA-256 cryptographic hashes. The public verification desk enables P&I clubs, port authorities, and customs officers to verify document authenticity and anti-tamper validity without exposing unredacted commercial agreements or private vessel operational logs.

In compliance with international maritime claims limitation periods (Hague-Visby Rules and York-Antwerp Rules), technical survey records, displacement sheets, and raw measurement logs are retained in encrypted cold storage for a minimum period of seven (7) years. Instructing clients may request full export or archived copies via the Client Operations Portal at any time.

Under the Ghana Data Protection Act 2012 (Act 843) and international data governance principles, clients, surveyors, and vessel representatives possess the right to:

• Request confirmation of whether their personal or corporate data is held by V-Marine.
• Obtain a portable copy of personal account credentials and billing records.
• Request rectification of inaccurate contact or agency details.
• Request restriction of non-essential processing (statutory maritime safety inspection logs are exempt where required by Ghana Maritime Authority or flag-state regulations).