A cold lay-up will require a vessel being moved to a secure location and shutting down all systems. All machinery and systems onboard must be secured, and a specialised lay-up crew should be employed. Cold lay-ups can save more money, but the vessel is out of service for at least a few months. Reactivation, in this case, could take weeks.

The main advantage of a cold lay-up is that it gives the maximum cost saving over a long period of time. There can be some significant disadvantages, however, such as machinery degradation, so an owner should consider this option carefully before finally deciding to proceed. Modern vessels have a significant amount of sophisticated computer and electronic equipment onboard, and the industry has no real experience of how these complex systems will start up and reboot after an extended period of inactivity.

This means often that a vessel will be required to dry-dock before starting to trade again. Reactivation can be problematic and needs careful supervision. If there is a problem, this could be difficult if the ship is in a remote location with no power, making company inspections more difficult. Dealing with any technical issues caused by long-term lay-up can often take months or years to sort out.

Putting a vessel into cold lay-up will substantially reduce an owner’s overheads. However, if the correct procedures are not followed, it can end up causing serious and long-term damage to machinery and systems, with very significant cost and operational implications.