Richard Schiferli
“Taking Port State Control to the Next Level”
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 Faroe Islands, Iran, Latvia and Vanuatu were congratulated for their efforts to move up to the White List. This year Thailand and the United States of America 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. Syrian Arab Republic and Ukraine moved from the “Black List” to the “Grey List”.
There are now 45 flags on the “White List”, 2 more compared with last year. France is now leading the list, followed by Germany and Hong Kong. Several flags have made a significant move upwards on the “White List” in the top 10: France, Hong Kong (China), Greece, Norway and Bahamas. Other flags have made a significant move downwards in the “White List” and are no longer in the top 10: United Kingdom, Netherlands and Singapore.
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 2010-2012 is the American Bureau of Shipping followed by Det Norske Veritas and Lloyds Register. Germanischer Lloyd has dropped out of the top 5 and has been replaced by Korean Register.
The worst performing RO is Phoenix Register of Shipping (PH.R.S), located in Piraeus, in Greece. A joint submission with the Tokyo MoU has addressed the correlation between ROs and flags by submitting a paper to the International Maritime Organization based on 2011 figures. The combination of Sierra Leone
and Phoenix Register of Shipping resulted in a 41% detention rate. The Republic of Moldova with Dromon Bureau of Shipping scored a 33% detention rate, followed by Saint Kitts and Nevis and International Register of Shipping with 12%.
The introduction of the New Inspection Regime last year has also had an impact on the 2012 figures. A decrease in total number of inspections has continued, as well as the total number of deficiencies. Compared to 2011 the detention percentage has stabilized on 3.6%. Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom contribute most to the overall inspection efforts in terms of percentage.
In 2012 a total of 15 ships were banned. 5 less compared with last year. Multiple detentions was the most common reason for banning in 2012. With 1, 090 inspections and 114 detentions the ships flying a “black listed flag“ score a detention rate of 10.46%. For ships flying a “grey listed flag” the detention rate is 6.39% (1, 017 inspections, 65 detentions) and ships flying a “white listed flag” 2.99% (16, 092 inspections and 482 detentions).
The full 2012 annual report has been published on www.parismou.org.
