Category 1
✓ Handled by OCMEF- Freight vessels up to 110 m
- Pleasure craft
- Work boats
- Service vessels
- Private floating establishments
- Fishing vessels
- Passenger vessels up to 12 passengers
French & European regulations
What the rule demands.
Preparing your craft, verifying the technical elements concerned and supporting you in applying the requirements of European inland navigation.
Start of operations: 1 January 2027
Regulatory framework
OCMEF is a private independent control body whose approval is currently under review by the French Ministry for Transport, under the Transport Code, Decree No. 2025-50 of 15 January 2025 and the Order of 28 October 2025 on inland navigation control bodies. Based at the heart of France’s leading inland-waterway basin, OCMEF has a permanent presence in the Paris region and Hauts-de-France, and operates throughout French territory. The approval decision and scope of intervention will be published on this site upon notification. An approval file must be reviewed by the Ministry and the State services.
What you get.
- Dry-dock surveys
- Afloat surveys
- File preparation
- Assessment of stability and hull-strength files
- Administrative follow-up
- Regulatory support
- Renewal of navigation certificates
Enter your vessel and your need. The form analyses your situation as you type and displays the corresponding regulatory category.
Fill in the intervention request form
Our fields of intervention
OCMEF operates on inland vessels classified by the French Order of 28 October 2025. Find at once the category that applies to you.
Category 2
✓ Handled by OCMEF- Pushers
- Floating equipment
- Floating establishments open to the public
- Container barges
- Tank vessels
- Vessels under 24 m
- Intermediate passenger vessels
Category 3
- Self-propelled vessels over 110 m
- Dangerous-goods (ADR) transport requiring a classification society
- ADR convoys
- Large units
- Public establishments hosting over 300 people
⚠ Some cases legally require a classification society.
OCMEF can step in for technical assistance, regulatory expertise, file preparation and client support. Cases legally requiring a classification society are not carried out directly by OCMEF.
Beyond compliance, we support technical and regulatory changes: see our technical advisory in inland navigation. For river-sea or seagoing vessels, our independent maritime expertise completes this approach.
Where we operate
On the main European waterway corridors.
Based on the Seine-Scheldt axis, at the outlet of the future Seine-Nord Europe canal, OCMEF operates across the Seine, Oise, northern and Rhine basins. A permanent presence in Hauts-de-France and Île-de-France, with the capacity to intervene throughout France and the European corridors.
- Seine-Escaut
- Seine · Oise
- Rhin
- Nord
- Seine-Nord Europe
Your case
Intervention request
Enter your vessel and your need. The form analyses your situation as you type and displays the corresponding regulatory category.