EC TAKES FRENCH, IRISH AUTHORITIES TO COURT OVER SHIP SAFETY INSPECTIONS

EC TAKES FRENCH, IRISH AUTHORITIES TO COURT OVER SHIP SAFETY INSPECTIONS

EC TAKES FRENCH, IRISH AUTHORITIES TO COURT OVER SHIP SAFETY INSPECTIONS

   The European Commission has decided to bring an action in the Court of Justice against France and Ireland for their failure to enforce legislation on the state control of vessels in their ports.
   The Brussels agency said that the two countries have failed to inspect 25 percent of the number of ships entering their ports, as required under Directive 95/21/EC on port state control. The European directive aims to reduce the number of substandard ships in European Union waters.
   The European Commission is asking the Court of Justice to declare that, in not observing this annual threshold of 25 percent of ships inspected by the port state, as provided for in the Community legislation, Ireland and France have infringed European maritime safety rules.
   “The number of inspections carried out by the two member states in question remains clearly insufficient, despite the financial and training measures they have put into effect,” the European Commission said. Ireland inspected 21 percent of ships calling at its ports and France inspected only 9.6 percent, it said.
   The European inspection criteria comply with the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control inter-government group. On Monday, the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, which covers 19 maritime nations, said that 25 flags were on its “black list” of flags that have a high proportion of substandard ships.