Paris MOU sets vessel pollution inspections

Paris MOU sets vessel pollution inspections    Maritime authorities making up the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (Paris MOU) on Port State Control will begin a three-month campaign Feb. 1 of concentrated inspections to see how rules for preventing marine pollution from ships have been implemented.
   'In practice, the concentrated inspection campaign will mean that during every port state control inspection within the Paris MOU region, a vessel's oil filtering equipment and record keeping shall be verified in more detail for compliance with international standards,' the Paris MOU said in a statement.
   The 22 maritime authorities participating in the Paris MOU are all members of the European Union, plus Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation.
   Past inspections have regularly found 'illegal bypasses of the oil filtering system and illegal overboard connections from sludge tanks,' the Paris MOU explained. 'On many occasions, oil record books were not properly kept.'
   Any such deficiencies discovered during the pending inspection period, which ends April 30, can result in the detention of a vessel until it is in compliance. A detention in one port could mean that 'the ship could face the risk of further inspections in other Paris MOU ports,' the Paris MOU noted.
   All inspections will be inserted in the SIRENAC database of the Paris MOU and will be recorded on evaluation forms.
   For more information, contact Richard W.J. Schiferli, general secretary of the Paris MOU, at Richard.Schiferli@parismou.org .