How to write a ship supply requisition that gets comparable quotes

Most "cheap" quotes are cheap because the supplier priced something different: a smaller pack, a lower grade, delivery to the quay instead of to the ship, or a list with the awkward lines dropped. None of that is dishonest — each supplier filled the gaps in the requisition with its own assumptions. The fix is to leave fewer gaps. A requisition that pins down what, how many, where and when turns an RFQ into a like-for-like comparison.

It also matters what you do with the answers. Under the ISSA conditions a supplier that quoted a full list may decline to supply only some of the items, so splitting an award line by line across suppliers is something to agree before you ask, not after.^[1]

The IMPA code is the trade’s common language. The IMPA Marine Stores Guide gives each product a unique six-digit code tied to an individual description, covers more than 50,000 products, and is described by its publisher as the shipping industry’s standard product reference. IMPA says the codes have stayed consistent for almost 40 years.^[4,7]

The current book is the 8th edition, released in 2023, with more than 40,000 changes to existing codes from the 7th edition and over 3,000 new codes. If your purchasing system still carries 7th-edition descriptions, a supplier on the 8th edition may read the same code slightly differently — quote the description next to the code so a mismatch shows up.^[5,6]

Some suppliers work from ISSA codes instead: the International Ship Suppliers & Services Association publishes its own Ship Stores Catalogue and a Provisions & Bonded Stores Catalogue (2020 editions) with ISSA’s own item numbering. The same product carries different codes in the two systems, so say which one your list uses.^[3,9]

• One code system per requisition, named in the header ("IMPA MSG 8th ed." or "ISSA 2020").
• Code plus full description on every line; a code alone hides typos, a description alone hides grades.
• For items with no code — owner-specified spares, branded provisions — give maker, model, part number or drawing reference, and say whether an equivalent is acceptable. Parts sent by the owner rather than bought locally are owners’ items and belong on a separate list.

Units are where comparisons break most often: one supplier prices rope per metre, another per coil; one prices paint per litre, another per 20-litre tin. Each IMPA product carries its own unit of measure in the Marine Stores Guide data (the guide’s API exposes a unit field and a separate MTML unit field per product), so the safest rule is to order in the unit the code is defined in, and say so.^[8]

• Write the unit as a word or a code you have defined — "metre", "coil of 220 m", "tin 20 L", "piece", "set" — never leave it blank.
• If you need a pack size, state it and ask suppliers to flag any line they quote in a different pack.
• Under the ISSA conditions an accepted quotation is charged at the quoted sum, adjusted for reasonable variations in the quantities actually delivered — so a vague quantity becomes a variable invoice.^[1]

Delivery is the line item suppliers price most differently, because it is the one they can least control. The ISSA conditions end the supplier’s responsibility for transport at the nearest point to the vessel the delivery vehicle can reach with the necessary authority — the "Point of Delivery" — and say the transport cost to that point is agreed in advance or charged at cost. Anything beyond it, and unloading and taking the goods on board, is for the buyer unless agreed.^[1]

Deliveries outside the port’s normal hours, on weekends or on holidays carry additional costs for the buyer, and so does waiting beyond a reasonable time. At an anchorage the Point of Delivery is a boat ride away — see launch boat delivery and our anchorage delivery guide.^[1]

• Vessel name (the ISSA conditions expect the buyer to declare it), port, and berth or anchorage area — or "TBN" and the port if the ship is not fixed yet.^[1]
• ETA, ETB and ETD as you know them, and the latest time goods can go on board.
• Whether the price must include the boat or delivery alongside; if you leave it out, ask for it as a separate line so it can be compared.
• Who the agent is — at many anchorages the port agent books boats and passes for the supplier.

When nothing else is agreed in writing, many suppliers trade on the ISSA General Conditions of Sale (approved April 2015, superseding the 2003 edition). They apply to all contracts, orders and deliveries unless otherwise agreed in writing, and a buyer’s conflicting purchasing conditions are deemed rejected unless the supplier accepts them in writing. If your company has its own terms, attach them to the RFQ — not to the order.^[1,2]

Signing the receipt note matters: under clause 7, taking delivery and signing it means the goods are deemed approved and accepted in every respect, and under clause 3f orders and receipt notes are signed by the master or an authorised representative. Count before you sign.^[1]

• Header: vessel (or TBN), port, berth or anchorage, ETA / ETB / ETD, agent, closing date for quotes.
• Code system named; code, description, unit, quantity on every line; equivalents allowed or not.
• Delivery: alongside, at anchorage or to a forwarder; boat and out-of-hours costs as separate lines.
• Commercial: currency, payment terms, quotation validity, whether you may award part of the list.
• Bonded or dutiable lines on their own list — see bonded stores in the UAE.
• Separate lists for fresh water and spares in transit; they move on different paperwork and different boats.

You do not need a perfect file to start. E-mail the requisition as it left your desk — Excel, PDF or typed — and we confirm what we read out of it before suppliers price it. Or post it on the platform and verified suppliers at the port bid sealed, per unit, against your own lines.