It was supposed to be routine.

The 55-metre motor yacht Miradora was three days into a busy Med season, anchored just outside Bonifacio, when the captain got the heads-up:

“Lloyd’s surveyor will be boarding tomorrow morning. Annual audit.”

No big deal, right?

They had done this before. The chief engineer ran a tight ship. The deck team was solid. The admin files were (mostly) updated.

But beneath the surface, something was… off.

⚠️ The Warning Signs

Here’s what the team thought was ready:

• An Excel-based maintenance tracker

• Monthly equipment checks saved as PDFs

• Emails between departments confirming jobs done

• One clean-looking logbook (painfully compiled the night before)

Here’s what the class surveyor found within 30 minutes:

🔧 Overdue safety equipment servicing by 3 weeks

⚙️ Critical engine maintenance marked as “in progress” — with no recorded action

⏳ Liferaft inspection date that didn’t match the certificate

📉 Zero evidence of alarm system testing

❌ No automatic reminders, alerts, or escalation of missed tasks

📂 Disconnected logs with no ability to trace back decisions or reschedule work

In short: a Planned Maintenance System (PMS) in name only.

🚨 What Happened Next

• The audit was failed on the spot.

• A full reinspection was ordered, scheduled 10 days later.

• The yacht lost three charter days while tied to the quay completing overdue tasks.

• The owner was furious. The captain had to answer tough questions.

• The engineer team burned a week catching up — manually.

All because a spreadsheet couldn't carry the operational weight it was never built for.

🔍 Breaking It Down: Where It Went Wrong

1. No Closed-Loop Task System

Tasks marked “done” had no history, timestamp, or accountable crew member. No audit trail = no compliance.

2. No Automated Reminders

Missed intervals were only spotted during the inspection — not before.

3. No Condition-Based Maintenance Logic

Many systems on board could’ve triggered tasks (e.g., running hours, system alerts). But the PMS didn’t track it.

4. No Transparency for Managers or DPA

The yacht manager couldn’t provide real-time oversight, because everything lived in separate files.

5. Too Much Admin, Not Enough Accountability

The crew were overworked, relying on memory and manual inputs. When things got busy (and they always do), maintenance got pushed.

🧭 The Lesson

A Planned Maintenance System isn’t just a tool — it’s a culture.

It’s how you prove to the outside world (and yourself) that you run a tight, safe, compliant vessel.

If your system doesn’t:

• Track recurring and condition-based tasks

• Alert for missed or upcoming maintenance

• Keep audit-ready logs

• Provide visibility to DPA, captains, and managers

• Scale with your vessel’s complexity

…it’s not a system.

It’s a liability.

🧯 Final Word

Audits aren’t scary if you’re genuinely prepared.

But too many yachts rely on good intentions, post-it notes, and last-minute prep.

Let Miradora be a cautionary tale:

Don’t wait for the knock on the hull.

Fix your system before someone else finds the cracks. We’re excited to simplify Yacht Management for everyone, through our software, education, and community.

Team Aquator