Port State Control News

A Singapore company has paid a NOK 7 million ($763,000) fine after it was caught trying to illegally export a barge carrier vessel from Norway for scrapping on the beaches in Pakistan, Norwegian authorities said.In 2017, inspectors from the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) detained the Harrier, previously named Tide Carrier, when it suffered an engine failure and started to drift outside Jæren in Rogaland. Wirana Shipping Corporation, a company which buys discarded ships and sells them to scrap yards at beaches in India and Pakistan…

Two shipping companies incorporated in Liberia pled guilty today in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, to failing to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition on one if its vessels and to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) by presenting false documents to the Coast Guard that covered up vessel oil pollution.Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and David C. Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware announced the plea agreement.

Bureau Veritas Solutions Marine & Offshore is encouraging the shipping industry to embrace higher standards in ship recycling and offering its guidance to help meet the challenge of compliance. BVS, with a network of trained experts world-wide, provides ship owners, ship managers and ship recycling facilities with a full scope of services to support compliance. This is both during the operational life of a vessel and through the end-of-life phase, in order to enable all parties…

Taiwan’s maritime industry leaders met to debate decarbonization, digital technologies and the future of safety at the annual ABS Taiwan National Committee meeting.“As the leading class organization in Taiwan, ABS is able to call on the expertise of leaders to inform our approach to meeting industry challenges such as meeting IMO 2030 and 2050 objectives while ensuring safety standards are not compromised and keep pace with technological challenges,” said Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman, President and CEO, who actively participated in the Committee program.

What are the barriers to implementing the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations to cut emissions from ships and how can these be overcome?These were key questions explored during an IMO regional workshop on effective ratification and implementation of MARPOL Annex VI and the  initial IMO strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships, held in Viña del Mar, Chile (30 September-2 October).Participants identified existing barriers preventing ratification of MARPOL Annex VI…

Singapore and Panama have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their maritime relations.Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Health of the Republic of Singapore led the first high-level delegation from Singapore to Panama under the new government of Panama.Dr Lam met with several ministers of the government of Panama, as well as leaders of the business community. He was accompanied by Mrs Mary Seet-Cheng, Non-Resident Ambassador of Singapore to Panama…

Developers of smart water quality monitoring technology Rivertrace Limited, have created a new, web-based software system for the automatic collation of MARPOL oily water discharge data.RIVERTRACE CONNECTED has been developed by Rivertrace in partnership with UK software developers ISB, who have more than 25 years’ experience in tailored software solutions. The intuitive, subscription-based service has been created in response to industry need and demand for the continuous monitoring of oily water discharge and simple…

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML): mention these two terms and the listener may instantly think of the ads displayed as you view your favorite online news site. This is one version of what AI/ML might be. Given the state of AI and ML research today, these advanced mathematical techniques represent something the U.S. Coast Guard should explore for mission application. To do this, common definitions need to be created, challenges understood, and practical use…

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…

Classification society ClassNK has undergone structural changes that include an integration of its point of contacts in order to more quickly and efficiently support clients with the IMO’s upcoming Sulphur Cap which will be globally enforced starting in January of 2020.In light of the increasingly strengthening SOx regulation, until now ClassNK had already been providing not only appropriate plan approvals/site surveys and information on international/regional regulations, but also carrying out various other initiatives to provide clients with compliant support to the new regulation.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretariat is attending the latest in a series of conferences to develop a legally binding international instrument, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction - known as 'BBNJ'.According to the UN body, the 3rd Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) is being held at UN Headquarters in New York, United States (19-30 August).

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced that during July, there were three new detentions of foreign flagged vessels in a UK port.It also informed that  four foreign flagged ships remained under detention in UK ports after failing port state control (PSC) inspection.The UK is part of a regional agreement on port state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held centrally in an electronic database known as THETIS.

International Maritime Organization (IMO) treaties need to be implemented into national law so that they can be applied on ships flying the flag of a particular country and so that those countries can implement effective port State control and comply with other obligations under the specified IMO instruments.According to the UN body, an IMO course provides lawyers and legislative drafters with the tools they need to understand IMO treaties, how they are developed and adopted…

In addition to fuel, modern ships also run on paper or their electronic equivalent. Vessels are required to keep written or electronic records of many things – and the list is growing.There is the traditional Ship’s Log, which records the vessel’s position, course, speed, weather, and unusual events to name a few. The Oil Record Book (ORB) has been around for a long time and tracks all movement of oil throughout the vessel, including its loading, consumption, and discharge (generally via the oily water separator and overboard discharge piping).

Global certification body, DNV GL offers a free web-based application of the Ship Implementation Plan (SIP) to prepare for 2020 0.5% sulfur cap.The ship owners and managers can use the SIP to prepare vessel-specific SIPs and maintain an overview of their fleet, said a press release.While not mandatory, the SIP is an IMO guidance which all ships are encouraged to prepare and implement to be ready for 1 January 2020.“As we approach 2020, good preparation will be essential to ensure a smooth transition into using compliant low-sulfur fuels…

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) informed that the Sub-Committee on Implementation of IMO Instruments (III) brings together flag, port and coastal States, together with observer delegations, to consider implementation issues.At its sixth session (1-5 July), the Sub-Committee is expected to finalize updates to key instruments which assist in implementation, said the UN body.The key instruments include the updated Survey Guidelines under the Harmonized System of Survey and Certification…

Classification society ClassNK has released its annual report on Port State Control. The report aims to assist ship operators and management companies in maintaining compliant operations by providing information about ships detained by PSC as well as deficiencies that were found on board from many port states in 2018.In line with the International Safety Management (ISM) Code, PSC inspections ensure that vessels departing the port meet international standards and have proved to be highly effective in eliminating substandard ships that are in operation.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has issued updated guidance to help shipowners comply with new UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations, with just six months to go until the implementation of the ‘Global Sulphur Cap’ICS said that taking full effect on 1 January 2020 the legal framework will require merchant ships worldwide to use fuel with a sulphur content of less than 0.50 percent or use alternative mitigation technologies.“These new regulations are good for human health and good for the environment.

International Maritime Organization (IMO) has been preparing ahead of the implementation date. From 1 January 2020, under IMO's MARPOL convention for the prevention of pollution from ships.Accordingly, the sulfur content of fuel oil used by ships operating outside designated emission control areas shall not exceed 0.50% - representing an 80% cut from the current 3.50% limit. New requirements for ships to cut sulfur oxide emissions enter into effect on 1 January 2020, marking a sea change in fuel used by ships…

Paris MoU Committee approved the 2018 inspection results and adopted new performance lists for flags and Recognized Organizations (ROs) at its 52nd meeting last month."These lists will take effect from 1 July 2019," said a release from the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (PMoU) on Port State Control (PSC).The “White, Grey and Black (WGB) List” presents the full spectrum, from quality flags to flags with a poor performance that are considered high or very high risk. The list…

A regional workshop in Malé, Maldives has trained participants from four countries in compliance monitoring and enforcement of International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention.Delegated from Bangladesh, India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka have participated in the workshop, said the UN body.The event also included training on how to conduct a relevant risk assessment for implementing and enforcing the BWM Convention – with a focus on ship targeting…

In advance of its AGM in the Faroe Islands next week, the global trade association for shipowners, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), has launched its Annual Review 2019, providing in-depth insight into the most pressing issues confronting shipping, which moves about 90% of global trade.ICS Chairman, Esben Poulsson, explains:  “The immediate focus of ICS is the successful implementation of the UN IMO global sulphur cap, which will take complete effect on January 1. ICS…

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…