Richard Schiferli
2011 Annual Report on Port State Control
“On course for safer shipping”
Considered to be the worldwide index for flag performance, the Paris MoU “White, Grey and Black Lists” indicate further improvements towards quality shipping.
Last year Panama was congratulated for its efforts to move up to the White List. This year Faroe Islands, Vanuatu, Latvia and Iran moved from the “Grey List” to the “White List”. A very successful achievement and an example for other flags that, through determined actions and political courage, changes can be made. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines moved from the “Black List” to the Grey List. Kazakhstan and India moved from the “White List” to the “Grey List”. Dominica and Honduras moved from the “Grey List” to the “Black List”.
Brian Hogan, chairman of the Committee stated:
“This year was one of the most significant and busy years for the Paris MoU in recent times. The start of the year saw the introduction of the New Inspection Regime, NIR, which has transformed and modernised the port state control regime in our region. I wish to thank the port State control officers and administrators in each of our member Authorities as they are the people who ensure the success of our endeavours and they are central to the Paris MoU in achieving our goal of safer shipping.”
There are now 43 flags on the “White List”, 1 more compared with last year. Some flags have moved position with Germany leading the list, followed by Sweden and Denmark. DPR Korea has disappeared as leader of the “Black List” since not enough inspections have taken place over the last 3 years. Libya is now on the top of the “Black List”, followed by Bolivia and Togo.
The introduction of the New Inspection Regime this year will show an impact on the 2011 figures. Already the number of inspections has dropped from 24, 058 in 2010
to 19, 058 in 2011, while the number of individual ships inspected had increased from 14, 762 in 2010 to 15, 268 in 2011. This will also have a consequence for some trends over previous years. Until last year the detention percentage has been decreasing gradually. The trend has not continued and in 2011 the percentage increased to 3.6%. This can be explained since the focus of targeting is on ships with a higher priority. The number of detentions has decreased significantly from 790 in 2010 to 688 in 2011.
In 2011 a total of 20 ships were banned. 13 more compared with last year. Multiple detentions was the most common reason for banning in 2011.
Richard Schiferli, Secretary General stated:
“It should be understood that substandard ships will no longer be tolerated in the region and with the new refusal of access measures in place, repeated offenders will be “banned” from our ports. This has happened to a substantial number of ships already, some of which have been recycled in the mean time. Others chose to find new areas to operate, endangering the lives of the seafarers on board and constituting a risk for the environment.”
With 1, 327 inspections and 152 detentions the ships flying a “black listed flag” score a detention rate of 11.45%. For ships flying a “grey listed flag” the detention rate is 7.11% (1, 181 inspections, 84 detentions) and ships flying a “white listed flag” 2.65% (16, 829 inspections and 446 detentions).
Recognized Organizations are delegated by flag States and carry out most of the statutory surveys on behalf of flags. For this very reason it is important to monitor their performance. The best performing RO over the period 2009-2011 is the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) followed by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and China Classification Society. The worst performing RO is Phoenix Register of Shipping (PHRS), located in Piraeus, in Greece.
For further information viwers can contact Mr. Richard W.J. Schiferli, Secretary General Paris MoU, on Port State Control, Tel: +31 (0)70 456 1509, Fax: +31 (0)70 456 1599, E-mail: Richard.Schiferli@parismou.org, Web-site: www.parismou.org
