INTER-GOVERNMENT GROUP UNVEILS “BLACK LIST” OF SUBSTANDARD FLAGS

INTER-GOVERNMENT GROUP UNVEILS “BLACK LIST” OF SUBSTANDARD FLAGS

INTER-GOVERNMENT GROUP UNVEILS “BLACK LIST” OF SUBSTANDARD FLAGS

   The Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, the inter-government group of 19 maritime nations, has published its annual ranking of flags that have a high proportion of substandard ships.
   For 2001, the group listed 25 flags on its “black list,” 27 on its intermediate “gray list,” and 25 on the better “white list.” The lists were compiled following 18,681 inspections carried out during 2001 by member states of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control.
   The “Black list” flags in the latest report are: Albania, Bolivia, Sao Tome and Principe, Honduras, Algeria, Lebanon, Georgia, Cambodia, Syria, Turkey, Belize, Libya, Tonga, Romania, Morocco, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Egypt, Ukraine, Malta, Panama, India, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Russia.
   Richard Schiferli, general secretary of the Paris MOU on Port State Control, said that four flags have been added to the 2001 black list of flags. These are Tonga, India, Azerbajian and Bulgaria.
   “Apparently a number of flag states which are responsible for certifying (old) ships have more concern for their revenues than safety standards,” a spokesman for the group said.
   Some “notorious flags seem to be comfortable with their position on the black list and have not shown any sign of improvement over the years,” the group added.
   Regional port state control was initiated in 1982 when 14 European countries agreed to coordinate their port state inspection effort under the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, a voluntary agreement.
   The group now includes 13 European Union countries, plus Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Poland, Norway and Russia.
   The group relegated the U.S. flag from its white list position in 2000 to the gray list in 2001. Out of 151 U.S.-flag vessels inspected in 2001, five underwent detention because of non-compliance.
   “Determined targeting of    substandard ships, greater transparency to the outside world and a higher level of harmonization and quality are goals for the future,” a spokesman for the inter-government group said.
   The group aims to hold ship owners, flag states, classification societies and charterers accountable for their performance and involvement with substandard ships.
   The overall figures for 2001 are very similar to those of 2000, the Paris MOU group said.
   The number of deficiencies recorded during port state control inspections in 2001 (68,756) showed a slight increase, and is 1.5 percent higher when compared with last year.
   “The increasing trend in operational deficiencies related to safety procedures is still continuing at an alarming rate,” the group said. Of even greater concern is a “steep increase in safety management defects,” which over three years have increased by 150 percent.