Tokyo Mou News

Ports in China's Shandong province are demanding more detailed information about oil tankers that are more than 15 years old that call at their terminals, sources with knowledge of the matter said, potentially delaying the unloading of crude shipments in the world's biggest oil importer.Last week, the maritime safety administrations at Qingdao and Rizhao, which covers the oil terminals at the port of Lanshan, notified shipping agencies to submit details on their ships' age, where a ship is flagged…

Singapore authorities detained one of the oil tankers from Gatik Ship Management's fleet, a major carrier of Russian oil to India, for three days last month over safety issues, according to port state control data from Tokyo MoU.The Gabon-flagged tanker Lefkada was detained on May 11 after several deficiencies were found, the report from the leading port body showed.They included maintenance of the ship and equipment, fire protection system and life-saving gear.The ship was released on May 13 after the safety issues were rectified, a source familiar with the matter said.The source added the inspection was part of random checks on ships.

The annual Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table, published today from the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), highlights a 25% increase in flag states reporting on seafarer labor standards compared to last year. Each year flag states must report on labor standards as part of their ILO audit commitments. Some of the labor standards specific to seafarers include repatriation of seafarers, accommodation provision, health protection and medical care. This year 67.6% of flag states reported on their ILO audit commitments…

The Panama Ship Registry is the largest in the world since 1993. This year, most of the vessels that entered the Panamanian registry were bulk carrier vessels. Panama-flagged bulk carriers represent 22% of the world´s bulk carrier fleet, with 2,725 vessels and 112.1 million gross tons (GT), according to Clarksons Research.Between January and August 2021, Panama has incorporated 218 newly-built ships to its fleet, contributing 6.6 million GT, of which 61 vessels are from the bulk carrier segment.Additionally…

The Isle of Man Ship Registry has become the first flag state to join the Getting to Zero Coalition, an industry-led alliance working toward decarbonizing the international maritime shipping sector.Established in 2019, the coalition is a partnership between the Global Maritime Forum, the Friends of Ocean Action and the World Economic Forum. Its members include more than 120 organizations from the maritime, energy, infrastructure and finance sectors.The coalition says the development and deployment of commercially viable…

The QUALSHIP 21 program (United States Coast Guard's Quality Shipping for the 21st Century Program) has existed since 2001, helping improve safety of shipping by identifying high-quality ships and thus promoting ship quality standards.Denmark has once again demonstrated high standards for quality shipping resulting in international recognition through the QUALSHIP 21 program."Danish shipping is quality shipping. Safety and growth are the hallmarks of quality shipping, and therefore I am pleased that Danish shipping continues to live up to these high standards," says Andreas Nordseth, Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority (DMA).The requirements for QUALSHIP 21 are higher than ever.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s 2018 Domestic Annual Report on Flag State Control.The U.S. Coast Guard’s 2018 Domestic Annual Report contains statistics regarding inspections and enforcement of regulations on U.S. flagged vessels. The report includes deficiency and detention rates for each type of inspected vessel, as well as performance metrics for Recognized Organizations that perform work on the Coast Guard’s behalf. The data contained in this report was compiled by the Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance (CG-CVC) using information from the Coast Guard’s Marine Information Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) database system.For the first time, the coast Guard is presenting information reflecting the entire U.S.

Maritime NZ brought charges against Jianxi Chen, Captain of the Panama-flagged bulk carrier Spinnaker SW on Friday, March 29, 2019.Captain Chen was charged with permitting dangerous activity involving ships or maritime products under section 65(2) of the Maritime Transport Act 1994.Captain Chen permitted crew to load a cargo of logs onto the Spinnaker SW, without the use of personal protective equipment or systems to prevent falls from height, which caused unnecessary danger or…

Maritime NZ detained the Panama-flagged bulk carrier Daiwan Justice on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at Lyttelton after a complaint the crews’ wages had not been paid for almost four months.Maritime NZ Southern Regional Compliance Manager Michael Vredenburg said, the detention was lifted later on Saturday after the ship’s operator, Taiwanese company, Wisdom Marine International Limited, paid the crew.Last year Daiwan Fortune, another Wisdom Marine International ship, was also detained.

Seven ASEAN countries have formally launched an ambitious initiative aimed at improving the environmental health of the seas in the region, through the implementation of key International Maritime Organization (IMO) marine environment protection treaties. Senior decisions makers of maritime administrations of the beneficiary ASEAN countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) met for their first high-level regional meeting in Bali, Indonesia (25-27 June), to kick-start the “Marine Environment Protection for Southeast Asia Seas (MEPSEAS) Project”. IMO is implementing the project, with funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

The Cook Islands flag, operated by ship registry Maritime Cook Islands (MCI), has shown positive flag state performance, as reported in the latest report on Port State Control in the Asia Pacific Region by Tokyo MOU. The data and figures were published in the new report on Port State Control in the Asia Pacific by Tokyo MOU. The Tokyo MOU is “one of the most active regional port State control (PSC) organisations in the world” and consists of 20 member authorities in the Asia-Pacific region. In the recently published report, Cook Islands reported a decrease in the number of inspections with deficiencies; from 27 in 2016 to 20 in 2017. Number of deficiencies has also seen a significant decrease from 181 in 2016 to 116 in 2017.

The concentrated inspection campaign (CIC) on safety of navigation was carried out in the Tokyo MoU region from 1 September 2017 to 30 November 2017. Within the campaign, Tokyo MOU member Authorities verified vital points of compliance in accordance with SOLAS Ch. V on all types of foreign merchant ships. During the CIC, member Authorities inspected a total of 6,720 vessels, of which 36 (0.54%) were detained as a direct result of the campaign. In total 157 (2.34%) ships were detained during the campaign. The highest number of inspections were carried out on ships flying the flags of Panama 1,876 (27.92%), Hong Kong (China) 650 (9.67%), the Marshall Islands 610 (9.08%) and Liberia 543 (8.08%).

The port State control regimes which carry out inspections on ships to monitor and enforce compliance with international regulations have pledged to strengthen their collaboration with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and amongst themselves. A recent workshop (24-26 October) for port State control (PSC) MoU/Agreement Secretaries and Database Managers and Member States, the seventh of its kind, was held at IMO headquarters in London, United Kingdom. Participants shared experiences, highlighted new projects and approved a wide range of recommendations, which are aimed at further collaboration, harmonization and information sharing. The recommendations will be forwarded for review by IMO and the regional governing bodies of PSC regimes.

South Pacific island nations are scouring shipping records for vessels with links to North Korea after Fiji said it had identified 20 falsely flagged ships it suspects the isolated regime is using to evade United Nations sanctions. Fiji, along with Interpol and the Singapore-based regional shipping regulator Tokyo MoU, are investigating the vessels for links to North Korea, a spokesman for the country's Maritime Safety Authority (MSAF) told Reuters on Friday. Interpol and Tokyo MoU did not immediately respond to requests for comment on their investigations. The 18 members of the Pacific Islands Forum this month agreed to launch an audit of every ship registered in the Pacific to search for any links to North Korea.

The two major Port State Control regimes – Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU – will focus especially on navigational safety in a so-called Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) is being taken place from 1 September until 30 November 2017, said Danish Maritime Authority. The inspection campaign (CIC) will be carried out over a period of three months as part of routine Port State Control inspections. Thus, all Danish ships that are routinely inspected under the Tokyo MoU and Paris MoU should expect to be covered by the campaign. In 2016, Danish ships were inspected more than 600 times under the Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU. In Denmark, 400-500 foreign ships calling at Danish ports are subjected to Port State Control inspections annually.

The Maritime Authorities of the Tokyo and the Paris Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control will launch a joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on safety of navigation. The aim of the CIC is to check compliance with the applicable requirements of the SOLAS Convention, the overall status of the vessel’s navigation safety, and the competency of crew involved in navigation operations. This inspection campaign will be held for three months, commencing from September 1, 2017 and ending November 30, 2017.

Leveraging 27 worldwide offices, the RMI Registry has been gaining market share year-on-year. Surging tonnage and a solid record for safety has pushed the registry to the head of the class. When the Marshall Islands Registry announced that it had become the world’s second largest – at a whopping 223,262,177 deadweight tons – the registry’s leadership was quick to emphasize quality as the leading reason. International Registries (IRI) President Bill Gallagher didn’t discount the importance of the deadweight milestone, but quickly moved the conversation towards why it had happened. With as many as 450 worldwide employees – the vast majority of them full time employees – IRI has done just that.

Almost three-quarters of cargo ships over 20,000 gross tonnage (GT) are already compliant with the SOLAS-mandated Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) deadline of July 1, 2017, according to the latest figures published by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO). The UKHO estimates that a further 3,828 cargo ships over 20,000 GT are yet to make the transition to using an ENC (Electronic Navigational Chart) service and therefore do not yet meet SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) regulations on ECDIS carriage.

The Liberian Registry has announced strategic new appointments in a number of key areas within the Asian regional offices operated by its US-based manager, the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR). Wan Ching Chiang has been promoted to Registrations Manager for the Liberian Registry in Singapore. Chiang is embarking on her fifth year with the Liberian Registry, which she joined as Registrations and Corporate Coordinator. In her new role, she will be overseeing vessel mortgage and corporate registrations for the Liberian Registry’s fast- growing number of South-East Asian clients. Chiang graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and has previous experience with working in the financial industry with both HSBC and Barclays Capital.

​Practical training on board ships for port State control officers, supported by class-based lectures, has boosted knowledge amongst participants from eight countries during a training course in Muscat and Sohar, Oman (19 February -2 March). The course was hosted by the Riyadh Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Gulf Region (Riyadh MoU) and  jointly organized by International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Tokyo MoU, the Riyadh MoU and the Ministry of Transport of Oman. The focus of the course was on port State control procedures and the latest revisions to relevant IMO conventions, specifically the SOLAS, MARPOL, Load Lines and STCW treaties.

A press communique from Danish Maritime Authority said that 29 countries from the Paris MoU and the Tokyo Mou have signed a new Ministerial Declaration on port State control  (PSC). The declaration, which has been under preparation for three years, stipulates new goals for port State control and for cooperation. In addition to sulphur regulations and the Polar Code, the declaration focuses on a number of other areas, such as the acceptance of electronic certificates, more transparency and reductions of the burdens imposed on the industry in connection with PSC inspections. Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority, Andreas Nordseth stated, "Port State Control is an important part of ensuring compliance with international regulation.

Once again, the U.S. Coast Guard has issued Denmark with the well-reputed certificate for United States Coast Guard's Quality Shipping for the 21st Century Program (QUALSHIP 21). The program is intended to secure and improve shipping and has existed since 2001. The program aims at identifying high quality ships and promoting quality shipping in this manner. Denmark has just received a diploma as evidence of the fact that Danish shipping maintains the standards of quality shipping. "Naturally, I am pleased that Danish shipping meets the high standards characteristic of quality shipping. Quality shipping is the foundation of the maritime industry in Denmark. Safety and growth go hand-in-hand," says Director General Andreas Nordseth of the Danish Maritime Authority.

The two major port State control regimes - Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU - will increase focus on the sulphur limit regulations. The decision has been made on the basis of a Danish/Dutch proposal. Port State control authorities across 45 countries and 5 continents – South America, North America, Europe, Asia and Australia – have agreed to carry out a so-called Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) in 2018 focusing on air pollution from ships. Peter Krog-Meyer, Senior Adviser of the Danish Maritime Authority informed, ”We have achieved two important results. Firstly, all over the world there will be even more focus on whether ships meet the sulphur limits.