Intercargo Finds UK Club Best on PSC Compliance

Intercargo Finds UK Club Best on PSC Compliance

The UK P&I Club believes that its loss prevention efforts are paying off among mutual members owning and managing dry cargo ships.

Intercargo’s just published report Benchmarking Bulk Carriers reports that UK Club entered vessels had the lowest number of deficiencies among those inspected by Port State Control in 2012. The average score was just 1.42, a further improvement on 1.82 in 2011. The average for dry cargo ships entered with International Group P&I Clubs was 2.16 in 2012, compared with 2.67 the year before.

The UK Club topped 1000 dry cargo vessel entries last year which put it on a par with the Japan Ship Owners Mutual at just over 12 per cent of the sector by number.

The UK Club has been stressing the importance of Port State Control compliance in recent years via a series of pocket checklists majoring on PSC inspection procedures, marine fire safety, life saving appliances, marine pollution, ISM/ISPS and the Marine Labour Convention. The latter, supplemented by a smartphone app, have been issued in liaison with Lloyd’s Register. A pocket guide on the safe carriage of solid bulk cargoes was developed with Lloyd’s Register and Intercargo.

Members also benefit from the Club’s own risk assessment team who examine bulkers and other entered vessels for their overall condition—-with an eye on the requirements of Port State Control.

Karl Lumbers, Risk Management Director, Thomas Miller P&I, explained: “We are heartened by the excellent performance of our dry cargo vessels in averaging such a low number of deficiencies, both overall and in relation to other P&I Clubs. However, we are not really surprised. We put great effort into working together with our underwriters and account managers on risk reduction and quality of membership. It’s nice to see this paying off.”

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UK P&I Club, October 15, 2013; Image: