The Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MoU) held its 56th Committee meeting in Kranj, Slovenia from 15 to 19 May 2023. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Brian Hogan. The meeting was formally opened by the Minister of Infrastructure of the Republic of Slovenia, M.Sc. Alenka Bratušek.
One of the main topics discussed during PSCC56 was the expansion of the Paris MoU with a new member Montenegro. Final details of Montenegro’s application to become a full member were discussed and agreement was reached for its entry into force on 1 July 2023. The port State control community of the Paris MoU welcomed the Maritime Authority of Montenegro, represented by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Capital Investments of Montenegro, Mr. Ervin Ibrahimović.
The Committee discussed the evaluation of the Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on STCW, held from 1 September to 30 November 2022. A total of 4,112 inspections were carried out using the CIC-questionnaire. A good level of compliance was demonstrated. Detailed information on the CIC results are available on the Paris MoU website.
With regard to the Inspection Campaign (IC) on the Polar Code, which was held in June and August 2022, the Committee commented that the campaign had contributed to raising awareness of the industry with the new requirements, thus
improving the safety and protection of the environment in Polar areas.
Furthermore, the planning and work for future CICs, which will be conducted jointly with the Tokyo MoU, were discussed. The planned CICs are on Fire Safety in 2023, Wages and Seafarers’ Employment Agreements in relation to the Maritime
Labour Convention, 2006 in 2024, Ballast Water Management in 2025 and Cargo Securing in 2026.
The Committee also discussed the progress of the actions emanating from the 2017 Ministerial Conference. A renewed monitoring process was introduced, and the Committee observed that substantial progress had been made on the actions
agreed at the Conference.
The Committee expressed its appreciation for the information exchange with industry at the “Industry Forum” earlier in the year. Based on the positive feedback, the Committee decided to organise such forums more often.
With regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee considered that the situation appeared to be almost back to normal but it remained important to monitor any aftereffects.
The Committee adopted the 2022 Annual Report, including the White, Grey and Black list of flag States and the performance list of Recognized Organizations. These lists will be taken into account for the calculation of the Ship Risk Profile from 1 July 2023
The report also mentions a substantial increase in the detention percentage to 4.18%. A worrying development that will be monitored, as it breaks the earlier trend of decrease. The report will be published on the Paris MoU website on 1 July 2023.
The meeting was attended by the members of the Paris MoU, the European Commission, EMSA, Montenegro, observers from the Abuja MoU, Black Sea MoU, Caribbean MoU, Indian Ocean MoU, Mediterranean MoU, Tokyo MoU and the US
Coast Guard. The Viña del Mar Agreement and representatives from IMO and ILO participated on-line. The large participation of observers from international and European organisations showed the co-operative strength of the international community.
On behalf of the maritime authorities, Mr. Hogan concluded the meeting by remarking that significant progress had been made in port State control, both in the short and longer term. He thanked all member authorities, the European Commission, EMSA, the Paris MoU Secretariat and the observers for their contribution and the spirit of co-operation shown by all who attended the meeting.
