Richard Schiferli
2014 ANNUAL REPORT ON PORT STATE CONTROL
“Adjusting Course”
Refusal of access (banning) has been used 63 times since 2012. Most cases involved ships which have been banned for multiple detentions (46), while a significant number (13) were banned for failing to call at an indicated repair yard.
The remaining 4 cases involved ships which “jumped the detention”, by sailing
without authorization. Over a 3 year period the flags of the United Republic of
Tanzania, the Republic of Moldova, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Togo
have recorded the highest number of bannings. Four ships have been banned for a second time already. The m/v MANSOUR M (Moldova), m/v CAROLYN
(Tanzania), m/v MAXAL GITA (Belize) and m/v RENI (Ukraine).
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 Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland were congratulated for their
efforts to move up to the “White List”. This year India moved from the “Grey List” to
the “White List”. A very successful achievement and an example to other flags that,
through determined actions and political courage, changes can be made. Spain,
Lithuania, Poland and Thailand moved from the “White List” to the “Grey List”.
Belize moved from the “Grey List” to the “Black List”. There are still 10 flags on the
“Black List”, with the United Republic of Tanzania having the worst performance.
There are now 43 flags on the “White List”, 3 less compared with last year. France
is still leading the list, followed by Hong Kong and Bahamas. Several flags have
made a significant move upwards on the “White List” into the top 10: Bahamas, Isle
of Man and the United States of America. Other flags have made a significant
move downwards in the “White List” and are no longer in the top 10: Germany and
Finland.
Recognized Organizations (ROs) are delegated by flag States to carry out statutory
surveys on behalf of flags. For this very reason, it is important to monitor their
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performance. The best performing RO over the period 2012-2014 was DNV GL,
followed by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). 1
INCLAMAR is still at the bottom of the list in terms of poor performance, followed
by International Register of Shipping and Bulgarian Register of Shipping. For
several years a joint submission with the Tokyo MoU to IMO has addressed the
correlation between flags and ROs working on their behalf. Since last year this
information has been published in the Annual Report. The combinations of the
Republic of Moldova with Dromon Bureau of Shipping and Venezuelan Register of
Shipping, as well as Togo with International Naval Surveys Bureau and
International Naval Surveys Bureau resulted each in a detention rate higher than
5% over a 3-year rolling period.
The introduction of the NIR in 2011 has also had an impact on the 2014 figures.
After an initial decline, the total number of inspections has increased for the first
time. Since 2011 the average detention percentage had slightly increased annually
until 2013 (3.61%), after which a significant decrease has been recorded for 2014
(3.32%). Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and France
contribute most to the overall inspection efforts in terms of percentage. High Risk
Ships have been operating mostly in the southern part of the region, while Low
Risk Ships have been calling in the north-western part of the region.
With 1, 286 inspections and 151 detentions the ships flying a “black listed flag“
score a detention rate of 11.74%. For ships flying a “grey listed flag” the detention
rate is 6.27% (814 inspections and 51 detentions) and for ships flying a “white
listed flag” 2.43% (16, 175 inspections and 393 detentions).
During 2014 the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) was enforced for the first time
during a full calendar year. A new table has been added to this report reflecting the
14 areas of the MLC. The highest areas of non-compliance are “Hours of Work or
Rest” (area 6) 21%, “Food and Catering” (area 10) 14%, and “Health and Safety
and Accident Prevention” (area 11) 37%.
The full 2014 Annual Report has been published on www.parismou.org.
1
Performance of recognized organizations is measured over a 3-year rolling period. In 2014 DNV GL was
included for the first year, while DNV and GL issued certificates were still recorded as separate entities.
