Europe, Canada detain fewer substandard ships

Europe, Canada detain fewer substandard ships    The secretariat of the “Paris memorandum of agreement,” an inter-governmental association of European and Canadian port state control agencies, said its members have increased the number of ships inspected over the past two years, but that resulting ship detentions due to non-compliance with standards have shown “a positive downward trend.”
   In a warning comment about the future of shipping, the port state control organization also questioned whether all ships would comply with the International Maritime Organization’s ship security code, which becomes effective July 1.
   The port state control body will publish detailed statistics on vessel detentions in its annual report, due to be published next month. It said that, although fewer ships have been detained, the number of deficiencies has slightly increased over the past years. “This may indicate that while the overall picture shows signs of improvement, the persistent substandard ship is still out there,” it said.
   It believes “the zero-tolerance approach of the Paris memorandum of agreement is beginning to show results.”
   Measures implemented in July 2003 will make it increasingly difficult for “rust buckets” to operate in the regions of its members, it added.
   The amendments of the port state control directive from the European Commission contained in the so-called “Erika I package” have been implemented by all Paris memorandum of agreement members, including Canada and Russia.
   “The risk of a Paris memorandum of agreement-wide refusal of access (banning) after multiple detentions is already shown to be an effective deterrent,” the organization said.
   Following up on concerns raised last year, the Paris memorandum of agreement has now adopted a performance ranking of classification societies.
   The organization has already developed a well-known “black-white-gray” ranking of flag states, based on the average safety of their ships.
   It has also compiled a similar performance ranking for classification societies that will be published in its statistical blue book for 2003.
   “When flags have delegated their statutory responsibilities to class (classification societies), both parties should be held accountable for the safety records of the ships,” the Paris memorandum of agreement said.
   The Paris memorandum of agreement also warned that some shipowners have been unable to implement a safety management system on board their ships, and that “it is questionable if the new requirements for security will lead to better results after July 1.”